Mergers & Acquisitions

The second quarter of fiscal 2016 is not yet over for home furnishings retailer Havertys, but shareholders may have reason to be optimistic.   Havertys reported that sales for the quarter to date are up approximately 3.6% from the same period last year and comparable store sales are up 3.2%. Total written sales for the quarter to date are up approximately 7%, and written comparable store sales rose 6.7%.   

PizzaRev, the make-your-own pizza concept backed by Buffalo Wild Wings, will soon be on the march in South Florida.   The company has signed a franchise agreement with Surfside Coffee, one of the largest Dunkin’ Donuts franchise networks in Florida, to develop 45 restaurants across greater Miami. The group’s first location is projected to open at the Miracle Mile in Coral Gables.  

Brookshire Grocery Co. is expanding with a new neighborhood format.    The Tyler, Texas-based supermarket operator will open 26 locations this summer under its new Spring Market banner. The stores will be on the sites of former Walmart Express stores that Brookshire is in the process of acquiring. (The acquisition is scheduled to close in July.) The locations range from southern Louisiana to west Texas.  

Office Depot isn’t about to let its rivals get the better of it during one of its busiest times of the year.   The office-supply retailer plans to hire a total of 8,000 seasonal and regular associates for the back-to-school season, up 33%, or 2,000 associates, over last year.  

Bed Bath & Beyond made another move to boost its online offerings by acquiring a home furnishings and home décor flash-sales site.

Westlake Ace Hardware has entered into a lease agreement and will be opening a new store in Overland Park, Kansas.   Lenexa, Kansas-based Westlake will take possession of the 15,500-sq.-ft. store on July 29. The store is the current location of Dobbels True Value Hardware. It will officially reopen as a Westlake Ace in fall 2016. Dobbels is currently having a going-out-of-business sale.    

Draw Another Circle, the parent company of Texas-based Hastings Entertainment, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with hopes of finding a buyer for its Hastings superstores.    

The combination of a cool spring and the continued pullback in luxury apparel spending took a toll on Neiman Marcus Group in the company’s third quarter.    The department store retailer’s profit plunged 80% in the period ended April 30, down to $3.8 million from $19.8 million in the year-ago period.    Total revenue for the quarter fell 4.2% to $1.17 billion, down from $1.22 billion a year ago.   Same-stores sales fell 5%.   

Specialty ink and toner retailer Cartridge World has a limited product offering, but that isn’t stopping it from thinking big or getting creative.   The McHenry, Illinois-based chain currently has more than 400 North American and 1,000 international stores, and intends to have more than 3,000 total stores by 2019. To help boost sales beyond its existing assortment and store base, Cartridge World is launching a mobile application called PrintWorld.  

The blockbuster $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn by Microsoft may benefit retailers trying to effectively recruit and manage employees who typically do not stick around for long.   The acquisition is being touted as Microsoft’s entry into social networking, an area where the tech titan has not been that active besides holding a stake in Facebook. However, LinkedIn is primarily a professional services platform and will probably not become a major consumer touchpoint anytime soon.