Finance & Capital Management

New York -- Carrefour SA said Friday it will sell its Greek supermarket business to its local partner and exit the country, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The French retailer said it would sell its 50% stake in the chain to its local partner, the Marinopoulos family, for an undisclosed amount and will take a mostly noncash charge of €220 million ($277.9 million), the report said.

Carrefour’s announcement comes two days before elections that could prove key as to whether Greece decides to stays in the euro zone.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dollar Tree shareholders have re-elected a number of board members among other initiatives passed at the company's annual meeting.

Shareholders re-elected Arnold S. Barron, Macon F. Brock, Jr., Mary Anne Citrino, J. Douglas Perry, Thomas A. Saunders III, Thomas E. Whiddon, and Carl P. Zeithaml to serve on the board of directors. Each of these Directors received a majority of the votes cast at the meeting.

Hong Kong -- Esprit Holdings said Wednesday that its chairman has unexpectedly resigned, just one day after the sudden departure of CEO Ronald van der Vis.

Chairman Hans-Joachim Korber said he is leaving for personal reasons, while van der Vis’s reasons were described as “personal and family.” CFO Chew Fook Aun left the company on June 1.

By Jundong Song, [email protected]

Wal-Mart, the largest grocer in the world, does not run any traditional loyalty programs to enroll and reward customers for their loyalty. Will this prove to be a costly mistake?

Giving competitors an edge

Unfazed by Walmart’s resurgent customer traffic and same-store sales rebound, the nation’s second largest grocer this week hung its 34 consecutive quarter of identical-store sales growth on the board.

CINCINNATI — Fuel sales at Kroger helped drive the company's total sales up 5.8% to $29.1 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 from $27.5 billion for the same period last year. Total sales, excluding fuel, increased 4.3% over the same period last year.

Identical supermarket sales, without fuel, increased 4.2% in the first quarter over the same period last year, marking the 34 consecutive quarters of positive identical supermarket sales for Kroger.

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp. said Thursday it has acquired partner Controladora Comercial Mexicana’s 50% share interest in Costco Mexico for approximately $760 million, funded by dividend proceeds, cash and investment balances.

The Costco México joint venture has been 50% owned by each of Costco Wholesale and CCM and operated by Costco Wholesale. :

Jaime Gonzalez Solana will continue as CEO of Costco México.
 

Fort Worth, Texas -- Pier 1 Imports reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended May 26 rose to $17.8 million, from $14.1 million in the year-ago period.

Sales increased 7.9% to $361.1 million from $334.6 million last year, and same-store sales rose 7.2% during the first quarter on top of last year’s 10.2% gain.