Finance & Capital Management

As of August 31, 16 retailers have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017. Four of those sixteen retailers are filing for “Chapter 22”, meaning this is their second time declaring bankruptcy. Chapter 22 cases show that the first bankruptcy failed and that the firm and its advisors were too optimistic regarding the firm’s viability out of bankruptcy. The chart below summarizes the four Chapter 22 filings over the past year:  

Energy is the fourth largest in-store operating cost for retailers, with the average 50,000-sq.-ft. retail building spending around $90,000 each year on energy costs. Retail building managers are constantly trying to better regulate their buildings’ energy costs, so understanding where those charges come from can be extremely beneficial.   

As it heads into its most important selling season, Sears Holding Corp. is receiving another cash infusion from its CEO and largest shareholder.   Sears is borrowing $100 million from units of CEO Eddie Lampert's hedge fund ESL Investments for "general corporate purposes," according to a regulatory filing. The new infusion brings the total of Lampert's outstanding loans to Sears to $499.4 million.   

Jegs Automotive Inc. has appointed a veteran marketing executive as its new chief executive.    The family-owned high-performance auto parts retailer on Wednesday announced it has appointed Jeffrey Hennion as its new CEO, effective Oct. 16. Most recently, Hennion served three years at GNC Holdings, where he was executive VP, chief marketing & e-commerce officer. He resigned in June.   

Following suit of older generations, younger shoppers want to pay for purchases with credit cards.    Specifically, Gen Z (ages 18-24) and Gen Y (ages 25-34) are comfortable using credit to make purchases, and overwhelmingly prefer credit cards to monthly payment options, according to new data from Vyze, a provider of cloud-based financial technology solutions.   

Costco Wholesale Club reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for its fourth quarter.   Net sales for the 17-week fourth quarter ended Sept. 3 rose 15.8% to $41.36 billion from $35.73 billion in year-ago period, which had 16 weeks. Total same-store sales rose 6.1%, with a 6.5% increase in the U.S. and a 4.9% increase in Canada. International same-store sales rose 5.6%    E-commerce sales in the quarter were up 21%. Membership fees rose 13% to $943 million.   

The European Union has hit Amazon with a tax bill.    The online giant was ordered to pay 250 million euros ($294 million) plus interest in back taxes to Luxembourg on Wednesday after the European Commission said the retailer had received illegal tax benefits.   "Luxembourg gave illegal tax benefits to Amazon. As a result, almost three quarters of Amazon's profits were not taxed," Margrethe Vestager, the EU's commissioner for competition, said in a statement.  

A New England-based retailer that has the distinction of being the first curtain catalog company is closing up shop.    Shareholders of The Fitzpatrick Companies, whose subsidiaries include Country Curtains, voted Wednesday to liquidate the 61-year-old business. Country Curtains will begin liquidating operations immediately, and a going-out-of-business sale will be launched in its 19 retail stores (and website) starting on Oct. 5. The stores will close by the end of the year.