Finance & Capital Management

Dallas -- 7-Eleven said Tuesday it will acquire the retail and wholesale assets of San Antonio-based TETCO, which includes company-operated convenience stores in Utah and the Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio areas of Texas.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and closing is expected in November. The acquisition also signals a return to San Antonio for 7-Eleven, where the company had operated stores until 1989.

Purchase, N.Y. -- A SpendingPulse report Tuesday by MasterCard Advisors, in partnership with Wells Fargo, found that July spending at small retailers slowed to 6% year over year. 

This was lower than June’s small retailer growth rate of 8%. The July report also found that with or without food service and gasoline sales, July’s small business growth was the lowest for the past 12 months.

New York CIty -- Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. reported Tuesday that first-quarter profit more than doubled to $68.6 million, from $24.1 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue surged 71% to $414.9 million, after the company opened 76 new stores and grew same-store sales by 37%. Wall Street forecast revenue of $368.3 million.
 

Laval, Quebec -- Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. said Tuesday its subsidiary Circle K Stores will acquire 29 stores in Orlando, Fla., from Florida Oil Holdings.

The transaction is expected to close at the end of August.

The BP-branded stores will be operated by Couche-Tard's Florida Division under the Circle K brand.     

"This is a great opportunity for the Florida Division to strengthen our market share in the Orlando market,” said David Morgan, VP operations, Florida.
 

Washington, D.C. -- Fueled by strength from department stores, electronics and the automobile sector, retail sales advanced 0.8% in July, the first gain in four months, according to a report released Tuesday by the Commerce Dept.

The bigger-than-expected increase followed a 0.7% decline in June that was weaker than first reported. Bloomberg forecast a 0.3% rise in July. The results have buoyed feelings overall that the economy may be improving, albeit at a moderate pace.

Pittsburgh -- Dick's Sporting Goods reported Tuesday that net income for the quarter ended July 28 slid to $53.7 million, from $73.8 million in the same quarter a year ago. The sporting goods retailer blamed the lackluster profit performance partly on weakness from newly acquired JJB Sports and adverse weather in the first quarter.

Sales climbed 10% to $1.4 billion, meeting Wall Street expectations. Same-store sales rose 3.8%, consisting of a 2.9% increase at Dick’s stores, a 4.4% rise at Golf Galaxy, and a 34.6% increase in its e-commerce business.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. indicated Tuesday it has received the OK from Chinese regulators to move forward with its majority stake in e-commerce company Yihaodian.

According to a report by Wall Street Journal, which cited a Wal-Mart spokesperson in Beijing, the approval will allow Wal-Mart to expand its online presence in China. Under the deal, Wal-Mart will increase its stake in Yihaodian from 18% to 51%.

Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

New York -- Saks Inc. reported Tuesday a loss of $12.3 million for the second quarter, widened from a loss of $8.4 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue climbed 5.1% to $704.1 million, widely missing the $762.6 million projected by Wall Street. Same-store sales increased 4.7% in the quarter.

Framingham, Mass. -- TJX Cos. reported Tuesday that net income for the quarter ended July 28 soared 20.9% to $421.1 million, up from $348.3 million and marking the discounter’s third consecutive quarter of rising profits.

Revenues beat projections by climbing 8.7% to $5.95 billion.

The owner of the Marshalls and T.J. Maxx chains raised its full-year profit forecast.

Atlanta -- The Home Depot reported Tuesday that profit for the second quarter rose to $1.5 billion from $1.4 billion in the same quarter last year.

Sales edged up 1.7% to $20.6 billion, and same-store sales climbed 2.1% overall and 2.6% in the U.S.

"As expected, second-quarter sales reflected the pull forward of seasonal activity into the first quarter," said Frank Blake, Home Depot chairman and CEO. "But we saw continued demand for core products and delivered second-quarter earnings above our expectations."