Finance & Capital Management

Dallas -- Zale Corp. reported Wednesday that its loss for the quarter ended July 31 widened to $32.6 million from $28.5 million a year earlier. Its results were impacted by increased inventory charges and absent a one-time gain recorded a year ago.

Revenue rose 9% to $377.3 million, compared with $345 million in the year-ago period. Wall Street expected higher losses on revenue of $360.4 million.

Same-store sales increased 9.8% in the quarter.

Durham, N.C. -- Cree has acquired Ruud Lighting, a supplier of LED outdoor lighting, at an estimated net cost of approximately $525 million. The companies’ shared focus on best-in-class LED-based systems has led to thousands of LED lighting installations over the past several years, Cree said.

Ruud Lighting will continue to be based in Racine, Wis., and will operate as a subsidiary as part of Cree’s lighting business.
 

South Deerfield, Mass. -- The Yankee Candle Co. has opened its first company-owned retail stores in Canada. Yankee Candle will open five stores in the greater Toronto area before Sept. 16. The first three locations in Pickering, St. Catharine's and Hamilton, Ontario, are now open. In the coming weeks, the company will open stores in Barre and Kitchener, Ontario.

DALLAS — While Zale Corp. posted a nearly 10% comps increase for its fourth quarter, higher commodity costs lead to a wider net loss for the period. The company stands to gain even more in the way of sales, with additional financing options for its customers.

New York City -- Grilled cheese and soup is the signature calling card at The Melt, a start-up restaurant concept debuting in San Francisco with big plans for the future. The Melt expects to have five eateries up and running in the Bay Area by yearend -- with plans to expand to over 500 locations nationally by 2015.

London -- Grocery giant Tesco PLC said Wednesday it is pulling out of Japan, which means shuttering 129 small, leasehold-owned stores in the Greater Tokyo area, which employ 4,000 people. The country is the smallest of Tesco’s international retail businesses, and the weakest for sales growth in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

“Having made considerable efforts in Japan, we have concluded that we cannot build a sufficiently scalable business,” said Philip Clarke, CEO.

Syosset, N.Y. -- Win-Holt Equipment Group said Tuesday that it has acquired Commercial Stainless Fabricators located in Marietta, Ga.

The 60,000-sq.-ft. facility will join Win-Holt’s Custom Stainless Steel Fabrication operation and will be supported by existing national manufacturing facilities in Pennsylvania, Texas and California.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon addressed attendees at the American Legion's 93rd National Convention on Wednesday, telling fellow Americans, veterans and Legionnaires that Walmart would create jobs in the U.S. by hiring more than 15,000 people to work in about 100 new and expanded Walmart stores by fiscal year's end.