Finance & Capital Management

The man who founded the Crazy Eddie consumer electronics chain has died at the age of 68.   Eddie Antar grew his company from one location in Brooklyn, New York, to the largest electronics retailer in the New York metro area in the 1980s, with 43 stores in four states.  The chain gained national fame for its television commercials which featured a maniacal-looking pitchman (which many people mistakenly took to be Antar) screaming at the end of the spot that Crazy Eddie’s prices were  “insane.”  

Photo: Brian Woods

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores has appointed Bryan Pugh to the newly created position of executive VP, stores and store operations. He will lead financial, operational and cultural leadership of Jo-Ann Stores.
    
Pugh joins Jo-Ann from Fred’s Pharmacy & Super Dollar where he served as executive VP, chief merchandising and marketing officer. His experience also includes serving as senior VP, chief merchandising officer at Walgreen Co. in addition to several roles of increasing responsibility at Tesco.
 

Patton Square Shopping Center in Woodruff, South Carolina, has been acquired by Pro Vest Properties for $7.3 million dollars. SRS Real Estate partners brokered the deal for the seller, an affiliate of Chen Development.

“Patton Square is a solid grocery-anchored neighborhood center with minimal competition in the market,” said Pierce Mayson, VP for SRS’ Southeast Investment Sales Team. “With a long-term anchor lease and very solid sales numbers, this asset is an excellent purchase for the buyer.”

Kroger Co. posted second quarter earnings that topped expectations but the chain cut its guidance for the year citing ongoing price deflation.

"If you look at the price of milk, eggs and commodities like that, they're historically low. Meat continues to be deflationary and produce is on a deflationary trend," Kroger CFO Michael Schlotman said on CNBC on Friday.

The nation’s largest specialty bedding retailer posted disappointing results on Friday for its second quarter.

Mattress Firm Holding Corp. on Friday reported a loss of $2.2 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue increased 48.2% of $980 million, which also fell short of Street forecasts, reflecting incremental sales from acquired and new stores.

Same-store sales fell 1.1%.

For the sixth time, Nest has appeared on Inc. magazine’s ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.

Nest — ranked no. 4783 on the 35th annual Inc. 5000, with three-year sales growth of 48%. The listing features successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment — independent small businesses. Companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Domino’s Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000.

Top suppliers don’t seem very worried about Macy’s looming store closings. And neither does the CEO of Gap Inc., according to a report by CNBC.com.   Gap chief executive Art Peck told attendees at Goldman Sachs' Annual Global Retailing Conference that he sees the Macy's store closures as an opportunity to grab market share, the report said.  

The nation’s largest book-seller Thursday lowered its full-year same-store sales forecast amid declining sales caused by the upcoming election.    At least that’s how Barnes & Noble founder and executive chairman Leonard Riggio partially explained the chain’s disappointing first quarter results. Riggio, 75 and the company’s largest shareholder, has been leading Barnes & Noble since August, when it fired CEO, Ronald Boire, who had been in the position for just under a year.   

Digital payment volume may be growing industry-wide, but there is still plenty of currency filtering through retail stores.