Finance & Capital Management

Increased advertising to support brand differentiation ate into second quarter profits at snack maker Snyder’s-Lance, but the company expects the investment to pay off during the second half of the year.

Snyder's-Lance, Inc. said sales increased 9.9% to $439 million from $399 million and profits, excluding non-recurring items, increased 12.6% to $16.9 million, or 24 cents a share, compared to $15 million, or 22 cents a share. Earnings per share were four cents below analysts’ consensus estimate.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax has reported weak second-quarter retail sales as the merger with Office Depot, which reported weak second-quarter sales last week, moves forward.

Seattle – Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is purchasing The Washington Post from media holdings firm The Washington Post. Co. for $250 million in cash. He is making the purchase privately and Amazon.com is not involved in the transaction. Bezos will reportedly take the currently public Washington Post private.

Peoria, Ill. — Cullinan Properties has announced the appointment of Masood Aini as VP investments in the company’s Chicago office.

With eight years of commercial real estate experience, Aini comes to the firm from Trevi Retail in New York, where he served as director of acquisitions and Leasing responsible for internal leasing efforts and the sourcing, underwriting and valuing of Manhattan retail condominiums and mixed-use assets.

NEWARK, Del. — The Produce Marketing Association has appointed Cathy Green Burns as the association’s president, effective December 1, as part of its continued restructuring of the senior leadership team. 

In her new role, Green Burns will focus initially on leading board and staff team development as well as lending her insight to business development activities. She will report to PMA CEO Bryan Silbermann, who previously held both president and CEO positions.

Boca Raton, Fla. – Office Depot has filed a presentation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which the retailer says demonstrates the importance of shareholders electing its board’s nominees at the company’s annual meeting on Aug. 21.

Franklin, Tenn. – More than $11.6 billion of retail IT spending, or 35% of the total, will come from budgets other than that of the CIO. Of that total “black ops” IT spend, $6.6 billion will come from the activities of the CMO and their purchases of hardware, software, SaaS, and services outside of the CIO budget.

By Colleen A. Conry, Jane D. Goldstein, Natalie Logan and Alicia Suarez

On April 24, 2013, 1,127 people were killed when Rana Plaza, a garment manufacturing complex in Savar, Bangladesh, collapsed. This tragedy highlights the working conditions that may exist in Bangladesh and other countries. It also draws attention to the challenges faced by U.S. companies that want to conduct their business in an ethical and socially responsible way, particularly when operating through third-party suppliers in foreign countries.