Finance & Capital Management

Hingham, Mass. -- Building #19, the New England closeout retailer which shut its doors after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2013, has returned as The Rug Dept. The company opened its first Rug Dept. store in the town of Norwood, Mass. on Jan. 26.

Hudson's Bay Company has appointed Douglas Scovanner as EVP of finance and accounting, on an interim basis. Scovanner will support acting CFO with the day-to-day stewardship of the company’s financial planning, asset protection and accounting functions.

Prior to this appointment, Scovanner spent nearly two decades at Target, most recently as EVP and CFO.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores is eliminating the positions of about 2,300 Sam’s Club employees.  The job cuts represent 2% of Sam’s total workforce. Employees whose jobs are eliminated that cannot find another job with Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club will be eligible for severance.

Houston -- Francesca's Holdings Corp. announced that in connection with a management restructuring, Theresa Backes, president and COO of Francesca's, will be leaving the company effective Jan. 27.

The board of directors appointed Neill P. Davis, Francesca's CEO, to the additional title of president. The retailer said it will not replace the COO position, and will realign the responsibilities among Davis and other existing executive officers.

Shoppers still love Apple products, as evidenced by record unit sales for the iPhone and iPad.
Apple sales increased 5.7% to $57.6 billion from $54.5 billion during the company’s first quarter ended December 28 thanks to record sales of its flagship products.

The company sold a record 51 million iPhones compared to 47.8 million last year and iPad sales increased to 26 million units from 22.9 million last year. The biggest percentage gain came from the Mac business where units sold increased to 4.8 million from 4.1 million.

Tri-Land Properties is demonstrating the power of value added retail real estate investing with its extensive renovation of Fridley Market at the intersection of University Avenue and I-694 in Fridley, Minn.

Tri-Land is a full-service, real estate development and redevelopment company focused on the successful acquisition, development, renovation and management of community centers ranging in size from 100,000 sq. ft. to 750,000 sq. ft.

cloudBuy, a cloud e-commerce marketplace, has named Jonathan Holden as CEO for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, reporting into the company's board.

The company will look to Holden to help drive expansion and oversee global partnerships, including Visa.

New York -- Direct spending in New York and New Jersey by the National Football League (NFL), businesses, visitors, and media on area lodging, transportation, food and beverage, entertainment, business services, and other hospitality and tourism activities related to Super Bowl XLVIII is expected to total more than $210 million.