Finance & Capital Management

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. reported Friday a bigger-than-expected second-quarter loss of $147 million, compared with net income of $14 million in the same period last year.

Sales plummeted 22% to $3.02 billion from $3.9 billion, and same-store sales tumbled 21.7% after an 18.9% fall in the first quarter. Wall Street had forecast revenue of $3.2 billion.

Facing the investment community on Friday, CEO Ron Johnson admitted to some strategic pricing mistakes, but said he and his team will stay the course.

ATLANTA — Aaron's, a lease-to-own retailer specializing in the sales and lease ownership of residential furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories, announced that Hubert Harris, Jr., has been elected to its board of directors. Harris is the former CEO of Invesco North America.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Sales and earnings were disappointing at Kohl's, but the retailer remains optimistic heading into the fall.

The retailer reported second quarter net income of $240 million, or $1 per diluted share, compared with $299 million, or $1.08 per diluted share, a year ago. Net sales were $4.2 billion, a decrease of 1% for the quarter. Comparable-store sales for the quarter decreased 2.7%.

STAMFORD, Conn. — Sam's Club has extended its relationship with GE Capital Retail Bank, a consumer lending unit of General Electric Company. GE Capital Retail Bank will continue providing the Sam’s Club credit card program to their Advantage and Business Members. GE Capital’s Retail Finance business, the operating entity that provides financial solutions to retailers to help grow their customer sales, will continue to manage the Sam’s Club relationship and service the account.

ROANOKE, Va. — Advance Auto Parts reported an 8.2% decrease in its second quarter earnings per diluted share to $1.34 from $1.46 for the same period last year.

ATLANTA — Ignacio Perez Lizaur, who lead Walmart's expansion into Latin America as director general Sam's Club Mexico in 1991, has joined Newell Rubbermaid's board of directors.

Seattle -- Bartell Drugs is moving its headquarters, the Seattle-based retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.

Bartell's, which operates 58 stores in and around Washington State’s largest city, said it would move its headquarters to the West Seattle Corporate Center in October. Its present headquarters is in Georgetown, a neighborhood south of downtown Seattle. The new, 32,000-sq.-ft. headquarters was built in 1991 as the headquarters for Services Group of America.

Seattle -- Nordstrom on Thursday reported an 11% decline in its second quarter profit, with its performance affected by the timing of its biggest sale of the year. The retailer also raised its profit and sales outlook for the year, and said it would accelerate the expansion of its Nordstrom Rack outlet-store concept.

Reston, Va. -- U.S. online retail spending reached $43.2 billion for the second quarter, up 15% over a year ago, according to comScore.

It was the eleventh consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. The top-performing online product categories were: digital content & subscriptions, consumer electronics, flowers, greetings and gifts, computer hardware, apparel and Accessories. Each category grew at least 16% over a year ago.

Stamford, Conn. -- GE Capital Retail Bank, a consumer lending unit of General Electric Co., and Sam’s Club announced their multi-year agreement to continue providing the Sam’s Club credit card program to their Advantage and Business members.

GE Capital’s Retail Finance business will continue to manage the Sam’s Club relationship and service the account.