Finance & Capital Management

FAIRPORT HARBOR, Ohio — OurPets Company, a proprietary pet supply company, has promoted Tim Viancourt to the position of VP of global sales.

TORONTO — A same-store sales decline at Lord & Taylor was not enough to keep Hudson's Bay Company's first quarter results for the period ended May 4 in the cold, thanks to strong same-store sales growth at Hudson's Bay.

The company's retail sales were $884 million for quarter, a 4% increase from $848 million for the first quarter a year ago. Consolidated same-store sales grew 4% in the first quarter. Hudson's Bay same-store sales grew nearly 8%, and were partially offset by a same-store sales decline of 1.4% at Lord & Taylor.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens will pay $80 million as part of a settlement with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) over a failure to report unusually large shipments of prescription painkillers from a distribution center in Jupiter, Fla. Six Walgreens pharmacies in Florida received tens of thousands of orders for regulated painkillers that were up three times the normal size, but the distribution center did not report them to the DEA as they were required to by law.

Sycamore Partners has acquired mall- and Web-based specialty retailer Hot Topic and its Hot Topic, Torrid and Blackheart concepts for approximately $600 million.

"Hot Topic and Torrid are both leaders in their categories, and we are excited to have both brands as part of our portfolio," said Stefan Kaluzny, managing director of Sycamore Partners. "Sycamore Partners is very pleased to have the opportunity to partner with Lisa Harper and her team to invest in the continued development of both the Hot Topic and Torrid retail brands."

The Target board of directors demonstrated its faith in the company’s cash generating capabilities on Wednesday and agreed to up the company’s quarterly dividend 19% to 43 cents a share.
 
The hefty increase ups the annual payout to $1.72 and moves the company closer to a long-term commitment to increase the full-year dividend amount to $3 by 2017. In addition, the company has established a target of growing earnings per share to $8 over the same time frame, up from $4.26 last year.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Ray Cook Golf, a leading golf manufacturer, has appointed John Holst as director of sales. In this role, Holst will oversee sales strategy and partner programs while building the Ray Cook brand.

He will also be charged with building the company's other brands, including Solus Golf, under parent company TGIB Marketing Inc.

Winston-Salem, N.C. – Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation has entered into a letter of intent with an affiliate of Sun Holdings, LLC for the sale of three company-owned shops in Dallas, and for Sun Holdings' further development of the Dallas market. The sale of the stores is subject to conditions, including the execution of a definitive asset purchase agreement and a development agreement pursuant to which Sun Holdings would undertake the further development of new Krispy Kreme shops in Dallas.