Finance & Capital Management

Canton, Mass. – Dunkin’ Donuts is making a big expansion effort in the mid-Atlantic area.

The coffee chain has signed multi-unit store development agreements with seven franchise groups to develop 51 new restaurants in Virginia and West Virginia during the next several years.

The seven franchise groups and their development plans include:

Hangzhou, China – Nobody can accuse Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. of sitting back and resting on its past success.

The global e-commerce giant is constantly making investments and launching new businesses, and in the past 24 hours has made two new business moves of significant interest to its online retailing competitors.

Atlanta – Home furnishings retailer Havertys is on a roll. Sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 increased 7% to $187.7 million from $175.1 million a year earlier, and the company plans to open a new store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the third quarter.  

Same-store sales for the quarter increased 4.8%. Total written sales increased 5% and written same-store sales increased 2.4%. Havertys also plans to complete two store renovations in the third quarter.
 

Scottsdale, Ariz. – Natural Grocers will hit a major milestone in its store network next month. The specialty supermarket chain will open its fifth store in Arizona on Aug. 11 -- making it the company's 100th store nationwide.

The Scottsdale location is one of 18 Natural Grocers stores expected to open in fiscal year 2015.
 

Boise, Idaho – Albertsons Companies Inc., which became the second-largest grocery retailer in the United States after purchasing Safeway in January, is planning to return to public ownership with a major stock offering that has implications for trading partners and competitors.

Photo via Boston Business Journal

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is taking its urban-format to the East Coast.

The retailer will open a CityTarget location in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood on July 22. Boston Business Journal offers a sneak peek at the three-level, 160,000-sq.-ft. store.

Click here.

 

Albertsons completed its acquisition of Safeway earlier this year to create a $57.5 billion company that now plans to return to public ownership with a major stock offering with implications for trading partners and competitors.

3D printing solutions provider 3DLT has added the former head of global merchandising for Staples to its board of directors.

New York -- The Container Store may have exceeded the expectations it set for itself in the first quarter, but its results were decidedly mixed.

The company lost $5.2 million, or 11 cents a share in the first quarter, compared to a loss of $3.6 million, or seven cents a share, the prior year. The retailer had forecast a loss between 12 cents and 14 cents and analysts pegged the number at 13 cents.
 
Total sales declined 2.1% to $169.8 million in part because of a $5.2 million foreign exchange headwind.

Seattle -- Nordstrom remains on the move with its off-price division.