Finance & Capital Management

New York -- Liberty Media Corp. has entered into agreements to reduce its stake in Barnes & Noble. Liberty Media informed Barnes & Noble that while Liberty has sold the majority of its shares to qualified institutional buyers, it will retain approximately 10% of its initial $204 million investment, which could be converted to a 17% ownership stake.

Deerfield, Ill. - Walgreens had March 2014 sales of $6.43 billion, an increase of 4.5% from $6.16 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013.

Same-store sales increased by 3.5% in March. Calendar day shifts positively impacted total same-store sales by 0.6%.

Asset protection has been given a high priority at Family Dollar where the operator of more than 8,000 stores said it plans to equip each of its locations with electronic article surveillance (EAS) equipment from Checkpoint Systems.

Checkpoint’s technology is already in 3,500 stores and the rollout, said to be one of the fastest in the retail industry, is occurring at a clip of about 120 stores each week.

Los Angeles -- Guitar Center's total debt has been reduced by approximately $500 million and annual cash interest expense has been reduced by more than $70 million. The improved financial position of the company will enable Guitar Center's management team to further invest in its people, store base and brands to accelerate growth.

New York — Pita Grill has signed a 12-year lease for 2,700-sq. ft. in Greenwich Village at 496 LaGuardia Place between West Houston and Bleecker Streets. The space includes 1,350 sq. ft. on the ground floor and 1,350 sq. ft. on the lower level. The quick-service restaurant will be the chain’s ninth location since if first opened a few blocks away at West 4th Street in 1994.

Houston -- Cardtronics, the world’s largest retail ATM owner, has extended its ATM services agreement with Walgreens. Cardtronics is a preferred provider of ATM services for Walgreens. Since the relationship began in 2004, Cardtronics has grown its ATM presence in Walgreens locations significantly — from fewer than 400 initially to roughly 3,250 today.

New York -- U.S. convenience outlets reached record in-store sales in 2013, with sales climbing 2.4% to $204 billion. Combined with gasoline sales of $491.5 billion, overall convenience store sales were $695.5 billion, according to figures released by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS). Convenience stores account for 34.3% of all retail outlets in the United States, according to Nielsen, which is significantly higher than the U.S. total of other retail channels including drugstores.

Robert M. Long, former president, CEO and chairman of Longs Drug Stores passed away March 27 due to complications, which occurred as a result of inclusion body myositis.  

Long was a well-known industry veteran having led Longs Drug Stores for more than 20 years. His retirement from the Walnut Creek, Calif.-based pharmacy retailer as CEO in 2000 marked the first time that a member of the founding family was not heading the company.