Mergers & Acquisitions

Cape Town, South Africa -- A Tuesday report by Bloomberg said that Shoprite Holdings Ltd. has announced plans to speed up its store expansion this year as it faces increased competition from Wal-Mart Stores.

South Africa’s largest retailer by market value, Shoprite said it will add 106 stores by June 2012. That compares with 96 openings in the same period last year. The company currently operates 1,246 stores.

Boulder, Colo. -- Organic grocer Sunflower Farmers Market said Monday that it will open a second location in San Jose in 2012, the company’s fourth in the Bay Area.

Sunflower said it will anchor West Valley Shopping Center, and is slated to open the 32,000-sq.-ft. store in second quarter 2012.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Reading into the Books-A-Million results, its easy to see how the liquidation at Borders took a toll on the book retailer's second quarter. Books-A-Million reported that net sales for its second quarter decreased 11.4% to $106.4 million from net sales of $120 million in the year-earlier period. Comparable-store sales for the second quarter declined 12.9% compared with the 13-week period in the prior year.

New York City -- David Campisi, CEO and president of Sports Authority has suddenly resigned after just 17 months in the position, according to The Denver Post and other newspapers. Campisi joined Sports Authority in 2004 and served in various executive roles prior to being named chief executive and president in 2010. No reason has been given for the departure.

New York City -- Former Duane Reade CEO Tony Cuti was sentenced on Monday to three years in prison in connection with accounting fraud at the New York-based drug store chain.

Cuti, who is to report to prison on Jan. 31, 2012, also must pay a $5 million fine.

New York City -- Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, through his Inmobiliaria Carso SA investment fund, spent $8.8 million to up his stake in Saks, according to Bloomberg. 

Slim, who was Saks’s largest shareholder before the purchases and last acquired the New York-based retailer’s shares in April 2009, raised his stake to 16% from 15.7%, the report said. Slim has made it a practice to add to his investment holdings when the markets slump.

Talk about visibility. Target went way beyond the norm in the retail industry earlier this year when it said that within six or seven years sales would reach $100 billion and earnings per share would double to at least $8. Expressing such a long term outlook is not without considerable risk, chief among them is the rapid pace of change in the retail industry and the fact that the competitive landscape and the factors influencing consumer demand could look very different within six or seven years.

It’s not easy keeping up with the comings and goings of retail executives these days. Every day seems to bring a change at -- or near -- the top. Among the most recent announcements was the news that Terrance Marks, CEO of The Pantry and architect of the chain’s turnaround strategy, was stepping down to take a position in Atlanta. Also hot off the wire: Mark Cosby, former president of stores at Macy’s, has been named president of CVS/pharmacy.