Finance & Capital Management

Dallas -- Corner Bakery Café has signed a new multi-unit development agreement to open its first restaurants in Indianapolis beginning later this year and the remaining sites over the next six years.

Cincinnati – The Kroger Co. earned a better-than-expected $422 million in its fourth quarter, down from $462 million in the year-ago period, which included an additional week of sales. The nation’s largest supermarket operator issued a better-than-expected profit for the year ahead.

New York -- A new white paper from Austin, Texas-based Accruent offers retailers insights into key project management challenges.

Called “The Business Case for an Automated Project Management Solution,” the paper discusses ways to maximize store profitability by reducing the time and cost required to open new locations. It also summarizes research findings that support automating project management toward portfolio-wide visibility and maximum real estate asset value.

Los Angeles — The Lipsey Company has named CBRE Group the top global brand in commercial real estate for the 13th consecutive year.

A training and professional development firm specializing in commercial real estate, Lipsey has surveyed commercial real estate professionals on their perceptions of the industry’s leading brands since 2001. More than 100,000 U.S. and international professionals participated in the 2014 survey. Respondents included property owners, investors, lenders, occupiers, brokers and property managers.

The months-long back and forth is over. The Men's Wearhouse will acquire all outstanding shares of Jos. A. Bank’s common stock for $65 per share in cash, or total consideration of $1.8 billion. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction.

Together, Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank will have more than 1,700 stores in the U.S., making it the fourth largest U.S. men's apparel retailer with approximately 23,000 employees and sales of $3.5 billion on a pro forma basis.

Kearney, Neb. - Michelle Hoffman has been appointed to the position of VP of sales and Kyle L. Hanson has been appointed to the position of VP, general counsel, and corporate secretary at The Buckle Inc., both effective immediately.

The company also made the following changes to its leadership team:

Walmart’s tepid sales performance in the fourth quarter is water under the bridge, so when Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon spoke this week at an investor conference he quickly focused on the growth potential of smaller stores, which are being expanded at a more rapid pace.

Houston – Stage Stores' fiscal fourth-quarter net income plunged 30%, stung by a charge tied to the sale of its Steele's off-price division and softer revenue. Its adjusted earnings, however, topped analysts' estimates.

Stage Stores announced that it is selling its off-price retail division Steele's to Hilco Global Retail Group in an equity deal.

For the quarter ended Feb. 1, Stage Stores earned $24.9 million, down from $35.8 million in the year-ago period.