Finance & Capital Management

Canton, Mass. -- Dunkin' Donuts announced the signing of multi-unit store development agreements with four franchise groups to develop 29 new restaurants in Houston and Waco, Texas, over the next several years.

New York -- Tiffany & Co.'s net income in the second quarter rose 2 % to $91.8 million, up from $90 million last year. But the performance missed Wall Street's expectations and the jewelry company cut its full-year guidance, citing the tough global economy and weakness in key markets such as New York and Asia.

NEW YORK — A switch to LED lighting technology in its refrigerated coolers has resulted in combined energy and maintenance savings of more than $1 million annually for convenience store operator Wawa.

The new technology, Immersion from GE Lighting Solutions, has been installed in Wawa’s 600 locations across the Mid-Atlantic region, and has reduced refrigerated cooler/freezer electricity and maintenance expense by a combined 78% since its adoption.

Atlanta -- Aaron's announced that R. Charles Loudemilk, Sr., chairman of the board of directors, will retire mid-September after founding and building Aaron's, which in now in its 57th year of operation.

Upon his retirement, Loudermilk will become chairman emeritus of the company.

By Jim Hogan, [email protected]

The retail industry is a bellwether for U.S financial health given that consumer spending is roughly 60%-70% of the economy. While the economy has sent mixed signals of late -- consumer confidence down, unemployment up -- consumer credit has swung up decidedly and leading companies in a wide swath of retail segments can point to positive year-over-year same store sales. This is prompting some retailers -- particularly discount stores--to begin opening new stores.

Indianapolis -- The Finish Line announced that Harvey Bierman has joined the company as VP digital technology.

Bierman comes to Finish Line after seven years with Demandware, where he most recently served as senior director, global strategic solutions.

“Harvey’s appointment is an important step toward driving long-term growth for Finish Line through aggressive expansion of our digital business,” said Chris Ladd, executive VP chief digital officer for Finish Line.
 

AMSTERDAM — Royal Ahold's U.S. subsidiary saw net sales rise 3.4% in light of challenging market conditions, the retailer reported last week.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. announced Monday that it as agreed to let founder and former chairman Richard Schulze conduct due diligence and form an investment group with private equity sponsors as he tries to take the retailer private.

Best Buy said its agreement with Schulze establishes a non-exclusive, orderly process that satisfies his requests and protects the interests of shareholders.