Finance & Capital Management

Chicago -- Extended store hours Thanksgiving weekend promotions were the least successful holiday marketing tactics, according to a survey of retail CFOs by BDO USA. The also report found that, following uneven sales results in December and January, the executives are moderating their expectations for 2013, projecting a 3.2% increase in total store sales, down from last year’s expected 4.5% increase.

Wayne, N.J. -- The search is on for a new chief executive of Toys “R” Us with the announcement that Gerald L. Storch is stepping down as CEO of the company. The news comes just weeks after the world's largest dedicated toy retailer reported that its same-store U.S. sales fell 4.5% during the holiday season, and that its total sales fell 4.7%. 

New York -- The Jones Group Inc. reported a loss of $80.3 million for the three months through Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $21.1 million a year earlier. The company said that marking down the value of some assets widened its loss.
 
Revenue for the fourth quarter rose 8.8% to $971.9 million, better than the $955.3 million Wall Street was expecting.

For the year, Jones Group lost $56.1 million, versus a profit of $50.7 million in 2011. Annual revenue rose to $3.8 billion from $3.79 billion.

New York -- J. C. Penney Co boosted its borrowing capacity under a bank credit facility by $100 million to $1.85 billion and expanded an option to borrow more at a later date.  

"As we enter the second year of our transformation, today's announcement reflects the confidence of our banking group in our long-term strategy and further strengthens our liquidity position as we continue to execute our plan," J.C. Penny CFO Ken Hannah said in a statement.

Dallas -- Corner Bakery Cafe announced plans to open 16 restaurants in six counties in the greater New York City area as part of a recent multi-unit agreement with CBCWSNY. The group of restaurant operators plans to open its first restaurant in 2013 and the remaining sites over the next six years.

Corner Bakery Cafe opened 20 new cafes and signed another 125 cafes in 2012, raising the total to 147 open cafes and 288 cafes under development, as the company moves forward on its goal to double its U.S. footprint by the end of 2015.

New York — Findings released Tuesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that top-performing companies typically have demonstrated strong collaboration between the corner office and the CIO.

According to PwC’s Digital IQ survey, companies with strong, collaborative relationships between the CIO and other c-suite executives are four times as likely to be top-performing companies as those with fragmented relationships.

HOUSTON — Stage Stores is consolidating its South Hill, Virginia regional operations into its Houston, Texas corporate headquarters, in an effort to increase efficiency, create synergies, reduce expenses and enhance growth.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- OfficeMax has received approximately $129 million in cash proceeds related to its October 2004 investment in Boise Cascade Holdings, L.L.C.  Since 2004, OfficeMax has held two classes of securities in BCH, non-voting equity securities ("Series A Units") and voting equity securities ("Series B Units").

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- CBL & Associates Properties has announced the promotions of Gary Roddy to VP collections, Tricia Tweedie to VP billings and Jim Ward to VP branding.

Commenting on the promotions, CBL’s president, Stephen Lebovitz said, “These individuals have established themselves as leaders within CBL in their respective fields and the shopping center industry. We are pleased to recognize their accomplishments and significant contributions to the company with these promotions.”

MT. PROSPECT, Ill. — Cummins Allison, a provider of currency, coin and check handling solutions, has announced its latest solution offerings for retail back-office processing.