Finance & Capital Management

PORTLAND, Ore. — Columbia Sportswear Company has appointed Shawn Cox as SVP of retail, a newly created position that will report directly to president and CEO Tim Boyle.

In his new role, Cox, 49, will be responsible for leading the company’s brick-and-mortar retail and e-commerce operations in the U.S., Europe and Canada.

Cox has 24 years of experience developing, managing and improving profitability of branded retail networks with operations in the U.S., Europe, South America, Middle East and Asia.

Robert Edwards will replace Steven Burd as CEO of Safeway, the company announced Monday evening.

Edwards, 57, currently serves as Safeway’s president and will assume CEO responsibilities on May 14 when Burd resigns as CEO and chairman. Filling the chairman role will be lead independent director T. Gary Rogers who will become non-executive chairman.

New York -- Consumer confidence dropped in April to a three-month low amid discouraging economic indicators, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers.  

The index fell 2.8% in April to 76.4 from 78.6 a month earlier. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey was 73.5 after a preliminary April reading of 72.3.

The Michigan survey’s current conditions index, which measures Americans’ view of their personal finances, fell to 89.9 in April from 90.7 last month.

Minneapolis — Supervalu has elected Rite Aid chairman, president and CEO John Standley and Cerberus COO and general counsel Mark A. Neporent to its board of directors.


Standley has spent the past 20 years in executive leadership roles in the grocery and pharmacy retail business. He became Rite Aid Corporation’s president and COO in September 2008, was appointed to the Rite Aid board of directors in 2009 and was named CEO in June 2010. He was elected chairman of Rite Aid’s board of directors in June 2012.

New York -- A Friday report by CNBC said that Goldman Sachs has lined up a $1.75 billion financing package for J.C. Penney Co., backed by the retailer’s real estate and other assets.

The news, which has not yet been confirmed by Penney, comes a day after investor George Soros reported a 7.9% stake in the company.

Earlier this month, Penney borrowed $850 million from its $1.85 billion revolving credit facility to boost its cash position and buy inventory.

Pittsburgh -- GNC Holdings reported Friday that net income for the quarter ended March 31 rose 12.5% to $72.6 million, compared with $64.5 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue increased 6.5% to $664.7 million, from $624.3 million last year. Same-store sales advanced 1.9% in domestic company-owned stores (including online sales).

New York -- Giving a much-needed boost to J.C. Penney Co., George Soros’ Soros Fund Management bought 17.4 million shares of the troubled retailer, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  

The stake, which was seen as a vote of confidence in returning CEO Mike Ullman, makes the billionaire investor the fourth-largest Penney shareholder, with a 7.9% stake.

New York -- The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to move forward with the Marketplace Fairness Act, legislation that would allow states to force retailers to collect online sales taxes, if the states choose to do so.  

New York -- Christopher Finazzo, 57, who was an executive VP and chief merchandising officer at Aeropostale, was found guilty on Thursday of 14 counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the fraud convictions and up to five years for the conspiracy charge.
      
The jury took less than five hours to reach the verdict, which came after a three-week criminal trial in Brooklyn, N.Y.
     

SEATTLE — Starbucks reported that its second-quarter profit rose 26% to $390.4 million, up from $309.9 million last year, amid sales increases in the Americas and Asia regions.

Total net revenue for the quarter ended March 31 rose 11% to $3.56 billion, not quite the $3.58 billion Wall Street expected. Global same-store store sales grew 6%, driven by a 4% increase in traffic and a 2% increase in average ticket, marking the 13th consecutive quarter of global comp growth greater than 5%.