Finance & Capital Management

The Woodlands, Texas -- Conn’s announced the opening of four Conn’s HomePlus stores, with locations in Albuquerque, N.M.; Amarillo, Texas; Chandler, Arizona; and Shreveport, Louisiana.

The new HomePlus store format showcases furniture and mattresses in addition to the leading brands and the latest technologies in consumer electronics and home appliances.  

New York -- Record levels of engagement helped Facebook grow revenue in its fourth quarter, ended December 31, by 63% to nearly $2.59 billion. Full year revenues advanced 55% to nearly $7.9 billion.

Net income increased 116% to $1.13 billion, from $523 million, or three cents a share.

New Orleans — Smoothie King Franchises has announced that it is targeting Atlanta for franchise expansion. The company, which will unveil its new store design next month in South Florida, plans to open 25 new locations in the Atlanta region over the next five years.

President Obama in his State of the Union address last night said he plans to sign an executive order increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour for workers on new government contracts and asked Congress to approve the same increase for all workers — and the National Retail Federation is not happy.

NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay issued a response ahead of the president’s address.

Los Angeles — CBRE Group has promoted Curt Grantham to president, global corporate services, Americas. In his new post, Grantham will oversee client management and account operations as well as all GCS regional leadership in the Americas. He will report to Jim Wilson, global chief operating officer, GCS, CBRE.

In his new position, Grantham will join CBRE’s Americas operations management board. He will continue to serve on CBRE’s GCS executive committee.

New York -- Testifying Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that the Justice Department is investigating the consumer data breach at Target Corp.

"While we generally do not discuss specific matters under investigation, I can confirm the Department is investigating the breach involving the U.S. retailer, Target," Holder said in his statement to senators,.”

Retailer and CPG companies’ usage of Facebook to engage with customers helped propel the 10-year-old social media platform to record levels of usage, sales and profitability in the fourth quarter.

Facebook said its daily active users increased 22% to 757 million while mobile daily active users increased 49% to 556 million. Those who used Facebook on a monthly basis increased 16% to 1.23 billion and those who did so monthly via a mobile device totaled 945 million.

Los Angeles — CBRE’s national retail investment group has arranged the sale of Oak Grove Plaza, a 120,491-sq.-ft. retail center anchored by Kroger Signature, to Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management.

CBRE marketed the property, which is located in the Dallas suburb of Sachse, Texas, on behalf of Invesco Advisers.