Finance & Capital Management

Under Armour on Tuesday reported a drop in profit for the second quarter, related to the closing of The Sports Authority. The athletic wear brand also revealed plans to plant its banner on prime real estate in Manhattan.    

Avison Young announced completion of the sale of Shoppes at Vickery Village, a 77,794sq.-ft., 11-building center in Cumming, Georgia. The real estate services firm reports that the purchase price was 20% more than the seller paid for the property only 18 months ago.  

The Federal Trade Commission has given its blessing to a deal that creates the fourth largest supermarket company in the United States.   Delhaize Group, owner of Food Lion, and Royal Ahold NV, owner of Stop & Shop, on Sunday completed their $29 billion merger after they received regulatory clearance by the Federal Trade Commission.   

Influential and longtime Walmart executive Don Soderquist died after complications related to heart surgery. He was 82.   Soderquist joined Walmart in 1980 as executive VP of administration and logistics and was a driving force behind the company’s growth. From 1988 to 1999, he served as vice chairman and COO. He retired in 2000 and remained on the Walmart board until 2002.   

Hastings Entertainment is going out of business.

That sound of nervous pacing you hear every night at 3 a.m.? It’s America’s retail executives. They’re feeling the pressures of a rapidly evolving sales landscape and trying to figure out how to stay one step ahead — or just keep up.   From demanding consumers who expect a bargain at every turn to new technologies, from an aggressive e-commerce marketplace to a U.S. economy that refuses to kick into gear with any consistency, the challenges retailers are facing demand a shift in thinking and strategy.

New store formats loom large in Starbucks Corp.’s long-term strategy.   The coffee giant on Monday announced that Cliff Burrows, who has headed up Starbucks' Americas business for eight years, will lead a new group within the company called Siren Retail. In the role, Burrows will oversee the global expansion of the chain’s new Roastery concept, as well as the development of the upscale Starbucks Reserve stores. http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/coffee-giant-two-new-store-expansion-moves  

The Dallas area is getting its sixth Nordstrom Rack store.   Nordstrom said it will open a Nordstrom Rack at The Centre at Preston Ridge in Frisco, Texas. The approximately 33,000-sq.-ft. store is scheduled to open in fall 2017. The property is owned by Brixmor Property Group.