Finance & Capital Management

Staples Inc.is looking north of the border for an executive to lead its North American operations.   The office supply giant is promoting Steve Matyas to president of North American retail. Matyas had previously served as president of Staples Canada/Bureau en Gros since July 2000, and will continue to serve as a member of the company’s executive committee.  

Nordstrom remains in expansion mode with its Nordstrom Rack division.   A 26,000-sq. ft. Nordstrom Rack is scheduled to open in spring 2017, at CityPlace, a 100-acre, master-planned development in Woodbury, Minn.   The property is owned and managed by Elion Partners, a Florida-based real estate investment firm.     

Beset by declining sales, growing competition and changing consumer tastes, Ralph Lauren has launched an ambitious turnaround plan that includes a heavy brand emphasis.    

Hhgregg is on the move.   The appliances, electronics and furniture retailer said it intends to open 25-30 Fine Lines appliance locations over the next two years. Hhgregg currently has 14 Fine Lines stores, including three new locations, with two in Ohio and one in Indianapolis.     

A veteran grocery store brand in the Dallas market will soon be history.   Houston-based Fiesta Mart announced Thursday it is acquiring 11 Minyard Food Stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area from RLS Supermarkets. The Minyard stores will transition to the Fiesta brand over the next several month     Fiesta is a specialty grocery retailer known for its international offerings that cater to diverse communities. With the Minyard acquisition, Fiesta will now operate 70 stores across Texas.

Tom Petty fans can commiserate with retailers who report having difficulty implementing EMV due to slow movement from the payment card industry.   According to a new survey of retailers conducted by the National Retail Federation (NRF) in May and June, 48% of respondents had already implemented the new EMV chip card system or expected to have done so by the end of June. A total of 86% expect to have EMV up and running by the end of the year.  

The month of June brought a welcome bit of news for beleaguered Gap Inc.   The company reported that net sales for the five-week period ended July 2, 2016 increased 2% to $1.57 billion.   “We are pleased to see better performance across the portfolio this month, partly driven by an improvement in June traffic trends, particularly at Old Navy,” said Sabrina Simmons, CFO, Gap Inc.  

Brookfield Asset Management announced the completion of its deal to acquire Rouse Properties at a price of $18.25 per share.   Rouse will be merged with Brookfield’s BSREP II Retailing Pool LLC affiliate and the acquired company’s stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.