Mergers & Acquisitions

Yikes! After a monstrous earnings miss, Supervalu suspended its earnings guidance and dividend and said it was exploring strategic alternatives.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens said Thursday that it has named retired McDonald’s CEO James Skinner as its new non-executive chairman of the board.

Skinner has served on the Walgreens board since 2005. He will succeed Al McNally, who has been non-executive chairman since 2009.

Walgreens said the change "is consistent with its board of directors succession and rotational planning process."
 

Harrisburg, Pa. -- Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett said Thursday that PetSmart will open a new distribution center in Bethel Township, Berks County, Pa.
 
PetSmart will construct an 870,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Berks Park 78, a new industrial park located in Bethel Township. The company will start construction on the $50 million distribution center in the fall of 2012, with completion expected in first quarter 2014.

The project is expected to create at least 500 new jobs by 2016. 

That’s not exactly the question a couple college professors ask in a new booked called, “The Physics of Business,” but it might as well have been. The authors suggest the forces of scale and efficiency are trumping innovation at U.S. companies of which Walmart is the largest.

New York -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services is further lowering its credit rating on J.C. Penney Co., attributing the move to a continuing weak performance.

J.C. Penney’s corporate credit rating has been lowered to "B+" from "BB-." The junk rating is four notches below investment grade. The move marks the second downgrade from S&P since mid-May.
 

If Hong Kong is part of your global expansion initiatives, be prepared to pay the freight.

The most recent retail rent report from CBRE Group labeled Hong Kong as the world’s most expensive retail destination, bettering New York City (No. 2) and Sydney, Australia (No. 3).

Seattle -- Nordstrom and British fashion brand TopShop said Thursday they have formed a partnership to launch TopShop and TopMan in-store departments in 14 Nordstrom stores, as well as on Nordstrom.com beginning Sept. 10.   

The joint venture makes Nordstrom the only large U.S. retailer to sell a broad assortment of the British fashion brands' merchandise in-store and online.

TopShop and TopMan have flagship stores in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Los Angeles (opening spring 2013).

Elgin, Ill. – Oak Brook, Ill.- based Inland Real Estate Acquisitions has announced the acquisition of South Elgin Commons, a 128,000-sq.-ft. shopping center in Elgin, Ill., for approximately $25 million.

The property was 100% leased at closing and is anchored by Ross Dress for Less, Toys “R” Us and LA Fitness.