Finance & Capital Management

A rough summer season, and an adjusted fiscal year end, took a toll on Gymboree’s third quarter earnings.   The retailer’s net sales for the three months ended July 30, 2016, were $250.3 million, a decrease of 4% compared to $261.8 million for the three months ended August 1, 2015.   

Metropica, a 65-acre community planned for Sunrise, Florida, will begin building 370,000 sq. ft. of retail, dining, and entertainment space after getting the go-ahead from the town’s Planning and Zoning Committee.   Tenants waiting to fill the space include iPic Theaters, Anthropologie, Fogo de Chao, Kings Bowl, and Kona Grill. Also approved as part of this first phase of construction phase were a 345-unit apartment building, a 240-room hotel, and 140,000 sq. ft. of office space.  

Starting Nov. 1, more than 5 million Sears MasterCard holders whose cards are linked to the Shop Your Way program will earn more Shop Your Way points at Kmart and many of their favorite retailers.   These Sears MasterCard holders will automatically earn more Shop Your Way points on a complimentary basis through December 31, 2017, including:

• 5% back in points on eligible purchases made at gas stations;
• 3% back in points on eligible purchases at grocery stores and restaurants

Despite sales gains, Cabela’s experienced profit losses for the third quarter.   For the quarter ended Oct. 1, 2016, the outdoor retailer’s total revenue increased 7.6% to $996.5 million; revenue from retail store sales increased 8.1% to $688.6 million; Internet and catalog sales increased 3.6% to $167.4 million; and financial services revenue increased 8.8% to $134.5 million.   

The retail loss burden overall is expected to be $132 per person this year.   However, $50 of this loss — about twice as much as in other calendar quarters — is expected to be incurred in this holiday season, according to “The 2016 Retail Holiday Season Global Forecast” from Checkpoint Systems. The report provides an analytical view of business risks that major retailers face during this holiday season.   

Texas is the go-to state for real estate developers in the U.S. and Canada, according to PwC and the Urban Land Institute.   In the 38th annual edition of the joint study, “Emerging Trends in Real Estate,” investment companies surveyed named Austin and Dallas/Fort Worth as the top two cities for development. The Northwest put in the second-best showing, with Portland and Seattle coming in at numbers three and four.  

Elliot S. Jaffe, ascena retail group’s co-founder and non-executive chairman of the board of directors, announced his plan to retire.   Jaffe co-founded dressbarn in 1962 and served as CEO until 2002. He was ascena’s chairman of the board until January 2011, and then transitioned to non-executive chairman.  

Amid “sluggish retail conditions,” VF Corp.’s Under Armour division posted gains for the third quarter.   Under Armour’s net revenues increased 22% in third quarter 2016 ended Sept. 30, 2016, to $1.47 billion compared $1.20 billion for the same period last year. Net income increased 28% to $128 million, compared with $100 million for third quarter last year.  

Amid continued market share growth by Amazon and a rapidly changing digital environment, traditional retail profitability metrics are under siege and not sustainable.   

Current retail thinking that the high and the low ends are driving the industry has gotten a boost from CBRE Group.   High street rents are off the charts worldwide, according to company’s just-released Global Retail Rents report. Rents in prime shopping locations during the second quarter were up 30% in Rome, 24%, 20% in Milan, and 14% in Sydney and New York.