Finance & Capital Management

Sears Holding Corp. tried to walk back the uproar it caused early Tuesday morning when the struggling retailer included cautionary language about whether it would be able to continue as a "going concern” in its annual 10-K filing.   

Moody's Investors Service has some good news for the U.S. supermarket industry.    Grocery stores’ operating profits will grow at a fairly healthy rate again this year after a disappointing 2016, according to Moody’s new report, "Companies Will Perform Better in 2017 as Deflationary Pressure Wanes. Profitability last year was crimped by an unprecedented level of deflation for an economy not in recession, the report noted, but as downward pressure on prices wanes, things will pick up in the latter half of this year.

Sears Holdings Corp.’s acknowledgement in a filing on Tuesday that the retailer had “serious doubt” about its future came as no big surprise to the retail industry, including Joseph Coradino, chairman and CEO of PREIT, a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns and manages 23 million square feet of retail and lifestyle space.   

Lighting rebates hit a record of sorts in 2016.   Commercial lighting rebates covered 79% of the United States, according to BriteSwitch, which is a record high since the rebate processing company began measuring rebate coverage nine years ago.   The company cited several reasons for the historic high, including that many programs replenished their rebate funds in January. Also, some large programs that ran out of money years ago have come back such as FirstEnergy in Ohio and Duquesne Light in Pennsylvania.

Four years of losses are catching up with Bebe Stores Inc.    The fashion retailer is hoping to turn its brand around by closing its stores and putting all its focus on e-commerce, according to Bloomberg. Bebe currently operates about 170 stores.   

The fat lady is singing at Sears Holdings Corp.   The long-struggling retailer said on Tuesday that there was “substantial doubt” that it could stay in business.   

A move to a more fast-fashion model helped Francesca’s to outperform many of its peers in the fourth quarter, with sales and income that topped expectations.       The retailer reported better-than-expected profit of $14.6 million, or 39 cents a share, for the quarter ended January 28, compared to $14.7 million profit, or 35 cents a share, in the year ago period.  

Jeff Gordman, the former CEO of Gordmans, plans to submit a bid for the bankrupt 106-store chain that would rescue it from liquidation. But he isn’t the only interested party.   

Avison Young has bought a Raleigh, North Carolina-based leasing and property management company and, in the process, added 65 shopping centers to its listings in the Carolinas.   The acquired company, Hunter & Associates, was founded in 1989 by Banks Hunter when he took over management of the historic Professional Building in downtown Raleigh. Hunter focused its efforts on the leasing and management of neighborhood and community centers to become the largest, locally-based retail brokerage in the region.  

Destination XL Group is slowing store growth to invest in e-commerce and enhanced marketing that includes a return to television advertising.   The retailer of big and tall men’s clothing on Monday reported better-than-expected net income of $1.8 million for the quarter, after reporting a loss of $1.4 million in the year-ago period.   Total sales for the quarter were reported as $122.6 million, down slightly from $124.0 million in the prior-year quarter. Same-store sales fell 2.4%.