Finance & Capital Management

WASHINGTON — Retail sales for the month of August were flat, the U.S. Census Bureau disclosed on Wednesday.

Adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, sales totaled $389.5 billion. Compared with the year-ago period, however, sales rose 7.2%. Trade sales edged up slightly by 0.1% from July, as well as 7.5% above August 2010.

OMAHA, Neb. — Long-time retail executive Andy Lundquist has joined apparel and home fashions discounter Gordman's as VP stores.

Lundquist has more than 20 years of retail management experience, most recently as SVP stores for Kohl's where he oversaw 270 stores in 21 states. In contrast, Gordman's operates 73 stores mostly concentrated in the Midwest.  

Lundquist was instrumental in growing Kohl's into one of the largest department store chains in the country.

SEATTLE and NEW YORK — While the threat of having to collect state sales tax still looms, Amazon.com continues to find new revenue sources. The company announced Tuesday that it will become the largest third-party seller of Hearst magazine subscriptions through an expanded agreement with Hearst Corp. Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN - News) and Hearst Corporation today announced that the two companies have entered into an expanded, multi-faceted consumer marketing, e-commerce and content relationship.

BURLINGTON, N.J. — Burlington Coat Factory reported that total sales for its second quarter increased 8.9% to $793 million and comparable-store sales were up 4%.

For the year-to-date, total sales rose 6.1% to $1.8 billion and same-store sales climbed 2.1%.

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands — Ahold has announced the appointment of Jeff Carr as EVP and CFO, starting Nov. 12. Carr will be a member of Ahold’s corporate executive board, pending shareholder approval. He will succeed Kimberly Ross who is leaving Ahold in November to become CFO of Avon.

Carr will be responsible for Ahold’s finance, real estate and IT functions. He will also manage the company’s existing €350 million cost reduction program and explore further ways to reduce costs and simplify the business.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores on Wednesday launched initiatives intended, it says, to help women around the globe in the next five years.

The retailer has spent the last year developing a plan -- with help from both governmental and non-governmental organizations and philanthropic groups -- which will direct $20 billion over a five- year period on goods and services from U.S. businesses owned by women, as well as double the amount it pays women-run suppliers overseas.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples said Tuesday that its board of directors had approved a new $1.5 billion stock buyback program, replacing a previous program approved in June 2007. The prior program had $295 million in authorization remaining.

Under this program, the company will repurchase shares in both open market and privately negotiated transactions. The company's management will determine the timing and amount of the transactions based on its evaluation of market conditions and other factors, Staples said.
 

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Wednesday by the Commerce Department said that retail sales were flat in August, the weakest showing in three months.

Apparel retail sales fell 0.7% in August, following a 0.3% decline in July.  Department store sales declined 0.3%.  General merchandise stores such as Wal-Mart and Target fared better, with 0.1% gains. Analysts said Hurricane Irene likely disrupted sales in late August along most of the East Coast.

Moscow -- Multiple sources in Moscow on Wednesday said that Victoria’s Secret will open its first Russian store in Moscow on Sept. 30.

According to local paper Vedomosti Business Daily, experienced American brand franchisee Moneks will open four Victoria’s Secret stores in and around Moscow prior to year’s end.

DALLAS — While the still struggling economy may have rendered most Americans cautious spenders, such luxury retailers as Neiman Marcus remain resilient. The company reported that total revenues for the fourth quarter were $919.7 million compared with $826.3 million for the prior year. Comparable revenues increased 11%. Operating earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011 were $17.5 million compared with $4.5 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2010.