Finance & Capital Management

Sports Authority is taking steps towards filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to Bloomberg.

The retailer has a debt payment due in 10 days and in talk with its lenders about a reorganization plan under which it would close as many as 200 of its more than 450 stores, the report said.

Sports Authority reportedly skipped a $20 million in interest payment in January on a $343 million loan. It has 10 days to make the payment.

As we look at the white hot commercial real estate market, it’s clear that value-add and opportunistic investors are chasing deals in new asset classes and locations that are less than ideal. And it makes sense: they are return-driven, happy to take more risks to chase higher yields. But when the market inevitably comes down, they’ll have more to lose.

It’s been quite common of late to hear retailers cite warm weather and intense competition as sources of sales weakness, but the prize for originality goes to PriceSmart after the warehouse club operator reported a January same-store sales decline.

J.C. Penney is pursuing a possible sale and partial leaseback of its headquarters building in Plano, Texas, as part of an ongoing effort to reduce debt and manage expenses.

The company announced Friday that a combination of favorable market conditions and a surplus of available square footage within the building make this an attractive real estate opportunity.

Kirkland's says weather kept shoppers away from stores in January, but the home furnishings retailer still reported a slight increase in same-store sales for the fourth quarter.

For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, net sales increased 11.4% to $199 million compared with $178.7 million for prior year quarter. Same-store sales, including e-commerce sales, rose 1.3% compared with an increase of 8.2% in the prior-year quarter. Kirkland's opened 12 stores and closed six during the fourth quarter, bringing the total number of stores to 376 at quarter end.

GameStop Corp. has entered into a partnership that will expand the retailer from selling video games to video-game publishing, the Dallas Business Journal reported. “As we’ve said many times before, GameStop will continue to invest in new and exciting innovation and strategic opportunities that will grow our video game business and deliver better and better entertainment experiences for our customers,” Mark Stanley, GameStop VP of strategic initiatives, said in the report.

At Home has added four more locations to its growing store portfolio.

The big-box home décor retailer announced it has entered the state of Minnesota, opening a 107,000-sq.-ft. store in Burnsville. (The company plans to open a second store in the state, in Blaine, this June.)

L Brands raised its profit outlook for the year after reporting record sales in the fourth quarter.

For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, the company had net sales of $4.395 billion, an increase of 8% compared to $4.069 billion for the quarter ended Jan. 31, 2015. Same store sales increased 6%. Net sales for the year ended Jan. 30 were $12.154 billion, an increase of 6% compared to $11.454 billion for the year ended Jan. 31, 2015. Same store sales for the year ended Jan. 30 increased 5%.

Rite Aid stockholders have voted to approve the proposed merger with Walgreens Boots Alliance, the Pennsylvania retailer announced Thursday morning.

Approximately 97% of the votes cast at today's special meeting of stockholders voted in favor of the adoption of the merger agreement, which represented approximately 74% of Rite Aid's total outstanding shares of common stock as of the Dec. 18, 2015 record date and constitutes a majority of the outstanding shares of Rite Aid common stock entitled to vote at the special meeting.