Finance & Capital Management

New York City -- RCS Real Estate Advisors announced that Moe Puri has been promoted to VP from assistant VP.

A member of the RCS Real Estate Advisors team since 2008, Puri’s primary responsibilities included re-negotiating leases on behalf of clients. He has since elevated his expertise and, as a VP, is managing several key client real estate portfolios.

QUINCY, Mass. — J. Jill, a leading multi-channel specialty retailer of women's apparel based in Quincy, Mass., announced that it has appointed Scott Edmonds to its board of directors.

Edmonds most recently was the chairman and CEO of Chico's FAS, where he led the company's growth from $155 million in sales and 200 locations to $1.5 billion and 1,076 locations over a ten year period.

Birmingham, Ala. -- Books-A-Million on Tuesday reported a second-quarter loss of $2.9 million, compared with a net income of $1.9 million in the year-ago period. The chain faulted lower sales as consumers move away from traditional books and pressure from the liquidation sales Borders Group is conducting.

Revenue fell 11.4% to $106.4 million from $120 million last year. Same-store sales fell 12.9%.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation welcomed plans announced by the Obama Administration Tuesday to streamline hundreds of government regulations, but said the plan does not go far enough.

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys"R"Us Inc. continues to implement its strategy of integrating its Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us units, announcing that it will have opened 21 new stores by the end of 2011. These new stores include 11 "R" Superstores and 10 Side-by-Side locations. As part of an ongoing effort to upgrade the company's portfolio of stores nationwide, the remodeling of 23 existing locations to the Side-by-Side format is also underway and will be completed by the end of the year, the company reported.

Dallas -- Tuesday Morning Corp. reported Monday that it swung to a loss of $1.4 million in the quarter ended June 30, compared with a profit of $1.3 million in the year-ago period.
 
Revenue fell 3% to $194.8 million, from $200.8 million last year. Same-store sales declined 4.5%.
 
For the year, net income fell 11% to $9.6 million. Revenue dipped nearly 1% to $821.2 million.
 

It would appear the year is playing out much as Target’s senior executives envisioned many months ago when guidance was provided regarding how the retailer’s sales performance was likely to unfold. As expected, the second quarter same-store sales increase of 3.9% was an acceleration of the 2% gain reported during the first quarter, and now further improvement is anticipated during the third and fourth quarter judging from upwardly revised profit targets shared with investors.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma reported Tuesday that profit for the second quarter surged 28% to $39 million, citing online strength and international sales for the improved performance.

Revenue rose 5% to $815 million.

The company has raised its outlook.