Finance & Capital Management

Chico's FAS announced that Diane Ellis has been appointed president of its Chico’s brand, effective November 1, 2016.      Ellis joins Chico's from The Limited, where she has served as CEO and president since 2013.       Prior to The Limited, Ellis spent six years as president and COO of Brooks Brothers, where she led the stores, ecommerce, IT, HR, sourcing, product development, finance, supply chain and planning functions in support of the global operations of the brand.

L Brands, operator of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, posted a better-than-expected 3% increase in same-store sales for September.      The retailer’s results were fueled by a 9% increase in comp sales at its Bath & Body Works brand. L Brands’ net sales rose 6% to $919.9 million in September.   The handful of other retailers who still report same-store sales did not fare so well.  

Walmart gave a lackluster profit outlook for next year, and said it will slow new store openings as it invests in remodels and digital initiatives.  

The fire is out, but its effects will linger.   Gap Inc. on Thursday reported a 3% decline in same-store sales for September, and said it expects the fire that occurred at the end of August at its distribution center in Fishkill, New York, will negatively impact its October comp-sales by approximately 3 percentage points and also have a negative impact on its comp-sales results in its fourth quarter.   

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is merging its sustainability-focused conference with Sustainable Brands.     Beginning in 2017, the two will produce a single conference together than includes a retail-specific program track, in addition to Sustainable Brands’ usual program, which covers sustainability-led brand innovation across multiple consumer-facing industries.  

Do we come to bury Jeff Bezos, or to praise him?

When I was a boy, my Cioci Mary (cioci is Polish for aunt) would occasionally treat me to a trip downtown in the small city where I grew up. We’d get a burger at Pappas’ diner and then head to W.T. Grant’s and she’d buy me candy, a comic book and a small toy. I mist up a little just thinking about it now, more than 50 years later.

You think a child of today, decades hence, will recall his aunt buying him a pair of sneakers on her laptop as fondly?

Just two years after leaving the company, Tom Kiler has rejoined Edens as senior VP in charge of the company’s 20 Texas properties.   Kiler will be responsible for management of the current portfolio in the Lone Star State and will direct acquisitions, development, and operations of Edens properties in Dallas and Houston. These include Houston’s Uptown Park and Dallas’s Preston Royal.  

Walmart gave a lackluster profit outlook for next year, and said it will slow new store openings as it invests in remodels and digital initiatives.