Finance & Capital Management

Abilene, Kan. -- Duckwall-Alco said Thursday it is officially changing its name to Alco Stores, Inc. An amendment at Wednesday’s annual shareholder meeting was approved. The company’s ticker symbol on NASDAQ is now “ALCS.”

The 111-year-old chain has 216 locations in 23 states, mostly in small-town environments. Plans are on tap to open five new stores in fiscal 2013 and eight underperforming stores are slated to be closed.

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar Stores Inc. reported Thursday that profit for the quarter ended May 26 rose 12.1% to $124.5 million, compared with $111.1 million in the year-ago period.

Sales increased 9.6% to $2.36 billion, just missing Wall Street’s forecasts of $2.37 billion in sales. Same-store sales climbed 5%.
   

New York -- The U.S. Supreme has just ruled that, while the individual mandate to buy health insurance is unconstitutional, this key part of President Obama’s signature healthcare law can stay as part of Congress’s power under a taxing clause.

In other words, the Supreme Court says that the government will be allowed to tax people for not having health insurance.

MINNEAPOLIS — Food distribution company Nash Finch has named Gary Spinazze as chair of the NFC Foundation for a two-year term. The NFC Foundation is the charitable giving arm of Nash Finch. Board member Paula Docken, business analyst, chair of the community outreach committee was named as chair elect.

MINNEAPOLIS — Best Buy, which at its recent shareholders' meeting said it would offer more technology services, has announced that it is expanding the Best Buy Mobile brand and store-within-a-store concept into 14 Five Star stores throughout Nanjing, China, this summer.

The expansion of Best Buy Mobile into the Chinese market is the first evolution of Global Connect, a partnership that was formed in November 2011 between Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. said Wednesday it is offering $450 million in senior notes due in 2017.

The retailer said it plans to use the proceeds, along with cash on hand and possible other borrowings, to redeem its outstanding senior unsubordinated notes.

Citigroup, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and KKR are serving as joint book running managers for the offering. BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo Securities, Fifth Third Securities, HSBC, KeyBanc Capital Markets, and US Bancorp are co-managers.

I mentioned briefly in my last column that I’ve been a little puzzled by what seems to be an industry-wide reluctance to design and develop, and in many cases redevelop centers into, true mixed-use venues. It’s not that our industry doesn’t get excited about mixed-use spaces — they clearly do. But, something is getting lost between the glamorous articles and design concepts, and the real-world execution.

St. Paul, Minn. -- Jones Lang LaSalle said it has been selected by the Ramsey County (Minnesota) Regional Rail Authority as the exclusive property management and retail leasing agent for St. Paul Union Depot.

Washington, D.C. -- The Conference Board, in its monthly sentiment index released on Wednesday, said that confidence among U.S. consumers dropped in June for a fourth consecutive month, reaching a five-month low.

The research firm’s sentiment index fell to 62, from a revised 64.4 in May. The slide in confidence raises the risk that the recently revealed slowdown in hiring will cause households to curb spending.

The median forecast of 69 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected the U.S. confidence index would fall to 63.

Spartanburg, S.C. -- Denny's Corp. said Wednesday that it has opened its first restaurant in the Dominican Republic as part of a development agreement with Grupo Nahas, which owns and operates the Intercontinental Hotel and Holiday Inn, among others, in Santo Domingo. 

Located in the Food Court of the Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo, the new restaurant represents Denny's first airport location worldwide.