Finance & Capital Management

Thanks to Wernher von Braun, who developed the Saturn V rocket in the Alabama town, Huntsville is known as the Rocket City. Now the appellation is being applied to its population.  

Toys “R” Us is adding a new customer touch-point that it will use to get merchandise into shoppers hands faster.  

Someone forgot to tell At Home that big-box stores are passé. Or that a retailer needs to sell online to be successful.

Since Lee Bird took the reins as chief executive at the beginning of 2013, the Plano, Texas-based home decor superstore retailer has been on a steep upward trajectory — and it shows no signs of losing momentum anytime soon.

Dollar General wants to make it easier for its employees to pursue higher education.   In a newly announced partnership with Bellevue University, all full-time and part-time Dollar General employees now qualify for $8,000 and $5,250 respectively in tuition assistance after working at Dollar General for a minimum of 30 days. Plus, immediate family members of employees are eligible for up to $2,625, as well.  

The nation's leading salon operator has entered into a major transaction that will reshape its portfolio.    Regis Corporation announced it has sold substantially all of its mall-based salon businesses in North America and entered into an agreement to sell substantially all of its International segment to The Beautiful Group, an affiliate of Regent, who will operate them as the company’s largest franchisee.  

Fake news. Or, at the very least, over-exaggerated news. That’s what I call the reports about the death of retail. Retail sales are up $121.5 billion (through the first seven months of the year) and the holiday forecasts look promising, with Deloitte predicting a healthy 4 to 4.5% increase over last season.

Gymboree has emerged from bankruptcy with a reduced footprint — and with new owners.   The children's apparel retailer announced Friday that it has successfully completed its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 as a new corporation under the name Gymboree Group. The company exited bankruptcy with a reorganization plan that includes a comprehensive recapitalization that will eliminate more than $900 billion in debt and a reduced store footprint.   

NewMark Merrill Mountain States this week issued a double-barreled press release: It closed on a $62 million refinancing of the Village at the Peaks and opened the Boulder-area center at close to 90% capacity.   The $100 million, 442,000-sq.-ft. had been under development for five years in a public/private partnership between NewMark Merrill and the city of Longmont. New financing was provided by Allianz Real Estate of America.  

The nation's largest toy retailer wants everyone to take some time out to play.    Toys "R" Us announced that, this fall, it is launching "play labs" at 42 stores where kids (and parents) can play with some of the season's hottest toys. The retailer said that adults can use the lab to test the items on kids' holiday lists to check for age appropriateness before they make a purchase.  

Walmart is allocating more funds to hurricane relief.    The discount giant announced that it will donate another $5 million in support of Hurricane Maria relief. This is in addition to its previous commitment of $35 million in response to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.