Finance & Capital Management

Cabela’s executive VP and chief commercial officer Scott Williams has been elevated to the role of president and given additional responsibilities in a move that positions him to succeed longtime CEO Tommy Millner.

Williams will continue to report to Millner. Williams will take on additional responsibility for U.S. retail operations and all operations in Canada.

Fourth quarter sales at CVS Health surged 11% to $41.1 billion, enabling the operator of nearly 10,000 stores to surpass a significant annual sales milestone.

Tractor Supply Company continues its rapid expansion, with the grand opening of its 1,500th store, on Feb. 13, in Odessa, Texas.

The retailer opened a total of 114 stores in 2015, and expects to open between 115 and 120 locations in 2016. Tractor Supply stores are located primarily in towns outlying major metropolitan markets and in rural communities.
  

Chattanooga, Tenn. -- CBL & Associates Properties announced plans to add home retailer West Elm at Friendly Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, as part of a 12,700-sq.-ft. expansion project for the center. West Elm will occupy approximately 9,000 sq. ft. of the total expansion, which also includes Pieology Pizzeria and an additional soon-to-be-named retailer.

The new development will be located between Anthropologie and Whole Foods. Construction on the space is currently underway, and both West Elm and Pieology are scheduled to open fall 2016.

Global technology platform and payments provider PayPal Holding, Inc. has appointed VP of global payments infrastructure (GPI) Sri Shivananda as the company’s new senior VP and CTO, effective April 1.

Shivananda’s appointment follows the decision by current CTO James Barrese, to step down to take time off. Barrese will remain with PayPal for a period of time to support a smooth transition period.

Shannon Greene, CFO of Tandy Leather Factory, was named interim CEO of the Fort Worth-based operator of more than 100 stores after CEO Jon Thompson resigned after more than two decades with the company.

Old Navy, the division that has been performing the best for Gap Inc. for years, suffered a serious sales slump in the fourth quarter.

For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, Gap Inc.’s net sales were $4.39 billion compared with $4.71 billion for the fourth quarter last year. Same-store sales at Gap Inc. were down 7% versus positive 2% last year. Same-store sales by global brand for the fourth quarter were as follows:

• Gap Global: negative 3% versus negative 6% last year

“Now Trending” is an exclusive online series to chainstoreage.com, featuring trending topics that impact the retail real estate landscape.

When Walmart announced in January that it planned to close 269 stores this year (154 locations in the U.S.), there was a good deal of chatter out there comparing the planned closures to a Macy’s announcement just over a week earlier revealing the upcoming closure of 40 stores and a restructuring plan that would eliminate more than 4,500 jobs.

Strength in the furniture and mattress category during the fourth quarter wasn’t enough to help Conn’s avert same-store sales decline with each of the company’s other merchandise classifications reporting weakness.

Conn’s said its total sales for January increased 7.9% to $101 million and for the three months ended Jan. 31, sales increased 7.4% to $376.5 million. The gains were the result on news stores as same stores sales at the specialty retailer of furniture, mattresses, home appliances and consumer electronics declined 2.3%.

Fourth quarter sales at CVS Health surged 11% to $41.1 billion, enabling the operator of nearly 10,000 stores to surpass a significant annual sales milestone.

The company opened 53 new retail stores and acquired 1,672 pharmacies from Target to end the year with 9,655 retail stores, including pharmacies in Target stores, and annual sales of $153.3 billion, an increase of 10%.