Finance & Capital Management

The hits keep on coming for the embattled American Apparel Inc., which is reportedly on the brink of its second bankruptcy filing in less than two years.   

After U.S. payment networks implemented a liability shift in October 2015, merchants that did not support EMV became liable for chargebacks from credit card fraud. Many merchants have evaluated their risk based on chargeback history, and some were surprised by their post-shift fraud volume. This gave rise in the industry to various rumors, misinformation and theories about the cause of this change in fraud volume.   

Walmart’s $3.3 billion purchase of e-commerce startup jet.com has spurred a shakeup across the retail giant’s digital operations.      Exiting the chain are Fernando Madeira, president and CEO of Walmart.com, and Dianne Mills, senior VP of global e-commerce human resources. (As previously announced, Neil Ashe, president and CEO of global e-commerce, is also leaving).   

Online growth — and along with it, online market share — continues to accelerate.   The trajectory is so strong that sales are on pace to hit $440 billion in 2017, a leap from $395 billion expected in 2016, according to “U.S. Online Sales Forecast: Omni-Channel Retailing Challenged by Its Success,” a report from FTI Consulting.   

Macy’s Inc. is living up to its promise to downsize.   The department store giant announced it has sold five stores to General Growth Properties for $46 million. All but four of the locations will be closed by spring 2017.    

Luxury handbag and accessories brand Coach posted a 22% increase in profit for the first quarter, a result that one analyst said show the company’s turnaround is delivering.   Profit totaled $117.4 million in the quarter, or 42 cents per diluted share. Adjusted net income for the quarter totaled $126 million, or 45 cents per diluted share, slightly ahead of forecasts.  

DLC Management Corp.’s joint acquisition of 16 properties with DRA Advisors this month increased the square footage of its portfolio by 26% and its dollar value by 17%. DLC president and CEO Adam Ifshin aims to increase that dollar contribution in the years to come.    “We don’t buy value-add properties and baby-sit them,” he told Chain Store Age. “We come to them with a business plan and ask ourselves ‘How do we add value?’”  

Staples wants to help its associates pay back their student loans.   The retailer is launching a new student loan repayment plan for sales associates as part of a broader recruiting effort. The first part of the program initially targets specific new hire sales associates and existing internal candidates who have been identified as high potential and top performers. Staples said it will expand the program to additional groups in the future.