Finance & Capital Management

The analysts at Morningstar combed through 330 consumer sector companies and came up with a list of 10 names that comprise the firm’s new “Consumers’ Choice List. 

New York City -- Sears Holdings Corp. has identified 79 of the 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart stores it said last week it would close, with the preliminary list split almost evenly between the two chains.

Florida will be hit the hardest, with 11 stores to be shuttered, the Associated Press reported. Ohio, Michigan and Georgia are not far behind with six store closures planned in their states. Tennessee, North Carolina and Minnesota are set to lose four stores each.

Santa Ana, Calif. -- The struggling housing market, weak job growth and ongoing consumer deleveraging caused the retail market to lag other property sectors in 2011, according to Grubb & Ellis Co.’s 2012 National Real Estate Forecast, which predicts a year of slow but continued growth for all commercial real estate property sectors.

Merrimack, N.H. -- Brookstone announced that Jackson Tai, chairman of the board, will also serve as interim president  in the wake of the resignation of Ron Boire, the chain’s president and CEO. The company will undertake a search for a permanent successor for Boire, who resigned from Brookstone, effective Jan. 3, to join Sears Holdings Corp. as its new executive VP, chief merchandising officer and president, Sears and Kmart Formats.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears Holdings hired Ron Boire as EVP and chief merchandising officer. Boire, who previously was president and CEO of Brookstone, will lead merchandising and retail stores for both the Sears and Kmart brands.  

He will work with our leadership team to better serve our customers and Shop Your Way Rewards Members by integrating their experiences across our stores, online, services, and mobile capabilities, the company said.

Target chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel drew a proverbial line in the sand last month when he noted the company’s same-stores sales performance in December would be better than the company’s modest showing in November.

Actually, what he said was, “For the month of December, our comparable-store sales results will compare the five weeks ending Dec. 31, 2011 to the five weeks ended Jan. 1, 2011. We expect a low to mid single-digit increase in Target’s comparable-store sales for this period, stronger than our November performance.”

Seattle -- Nordstrom announced plans to open a Nordstrom Rack in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The approximately 34,000-sq.-ft. location is scheduled to open during fall 2012 at Edinger Plaza, where it will join anchor tenants Dick's Sporting Goods, Michaels and PetSmart. The center is owned and managed by Watt Companies with Wilson Commercial Real Estate handling leasing.

When it opens, the Edinger Plaza store will be the fifth Nordstrom Rack in Orange County. Nordstrom also operates six full-line stores in the area.

New York City -- Wall Street analysts expect retailers to report a healthy end to the holiday season, fueled by discounts, improved consumer sentiment and such tactics as extended hours and layaways, Reuters reported.

Twenty-two major chains, from Macy's Inc. to Costco Wholesale Corp, are likely to post an aggregate 4.3% increase in December same-store sales according to Thomson Reuters.