Finance & Capital Management

York, Pa. – The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. has reached an agreement with the city of Milwaukee to extend the lease for its Boston Store location in The Shops of Grand Avenue, Milwaukee, contingent upon the city providing financial contributions from its downtown Tax Increment Financing district.

Sean Mayo, former director of strategic partnerships for Simon Business Ventures, part of Simon Property Group’s (SPG) marketing and business development arm, has been promoted to regional director of marketing, east region of The Mills portfolio.  

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Forge Real Estate Partners III, co-sponsored by the Sembler Company and Forge Capital, has formed a joint venture with East Coast Acquisitions and acquired Tarrymore Square in North Raleigh, N.C.

Tarrymore Square is a 256,805-sq.-ft. shopping center with a 65% occupancy rate. Existing tenants include Walgreens, Rugged Warehouse, Surplus Warehouse, Rainbow Fashions, Rent-A-Center and Miller-Motte Technical College.

Winston-Salem, N.C. – Krispy Kreme has signed a development agreement with existing franchisee Great Circle Family Foods, LLC, to develop 20 new doughnut shops in Southern California during the next seven years. A Krispy Kreme franchise partner since 1998, Great Circle Family Foods currently operates 11 Krispy Kreme shops in Southern California.

The planned shops are expected to feature Krispy Kreme's new small factory design, including a drive-thru.

By Jonathan Barsade, [email protected]

Johnson & Johnson cited the strength of key brands in its U.S. over-the-counter business as one of the driving factors that led to what chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky called “outstanding” results for the fourth quarter.

The company reported sales of $18.4 billion for the quarter, an increase of 4.5% as compared to the prior-year quarter. Operational results increased 6.3%. Domestic sales increased 7.4%, while international sales increased 2.4%, reflecting operational growth of 5.6%.

New York -- Eminence Capital, which owns 4.9% of the common stock of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers and has been pushing for a deal between the retailer and rival Men’s Wearhouse, has nominated two industry veterans for election as directors to the board at Jos. A. Bank's annual meeting. The nominees include: Bruce J. Klatsky, former chairman of Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, a position he held from 1994 until June 2007, and Norman S. Matthews, former president of Federated Department Stores and active and former board member of other retail and consumer companies.

Perhaps no single brand had a holiday season quite as rocky as Sears. When the retailer announced a string of bad news on Jan. 9, shares of Sears Holding Corp. (which includes both Sears and Kmart) went through the floor. Holiday sales at Sears stores were down 9.2% in the nine weeks prior to Jan. 6, a brutal figure when you consider that overall retail sales were up slightly over the holidays (which I’ll discuss more in my next column).