Mergers & Acquisitions

After growing its store base through an acquisition last year, Weis Markets is investing $90 million in its growth in 2017.    The budget includes new stores and remodels of existing locations. It also calls for supply chain improvements and continued information technology upgrades.    

Is Party City exploring a return to private ownership?   The retailer is considering a sale after being approached by a private equity firm about a leveraged buyout, Reuters reported. Buyout firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, which owns 55% of Party City, took the company public in 2015.     

Dollar General Corp. has added to its portfolio through an acquisition.    The Federal Trade Commission has approved the sale of 323 Dollar Express stores by Sycamore Partners to Dollar General, reported Reuters. The Dollar Express chain is made up of former Family Dollar stores that Family Dollar sold to Sycamore Partners in late 2015. Sycamore Partners bought the stores in 2015 when Dollar Tree sold the stores in order to win antitrust approval to buy the Family Dollar chain.   

Albertsons’ Jewel-Osco division has a new executive at the helm.     The company has named Doug Cygan division president, effective immediately, overseeing 186 stores in Ill., Ind. and Iowa. Cygan was most recently Jewel-Osco’s VP marketing and merchandising. He joined the company in April 1980 as a part-time clerk, staying with the chain as he completed his education and worked his way up through the ranks.  He became VP marketing and merchandising in 2011.   

A Chicago-based fund manager has acquired BeachWalk on Highway 101 in Solana Beach, California, for $33.25 million.   "True coastal retail projects like BeachWalk seldom come to market,” said John Read of CBRE’s National Retail Partners West unit, which represented the seller, the Orange County-based Muller Company. Solana Beach is north of San Diego.  

Barnes & Noble has ended its quest for a new chief executive with an in-house promotion.   The struggling bookseller named Demos Parneros as CEO, effective immediately. Parneros, who has served as COO of Barnes & Noble since November 2016, is a longtime Staples veteran. Prior to joining Barnes & Noble, he was president of North American stores & online for the office supply giant.  

E-commerce driven Bonobos continues to expand its physical presence.   The upscale menswear retailer added three new stores (which it calls “guideshops”), with locations at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles; the Summit in Lexington, Ky.; and Chicago’s Southport neighborhood, reported wwd.com. Another outpost is due to in Denver next week.  

Authentic Brands Group has taken a 51% stake in Frye, one of the nation’s oldest footwear brands, with an eye to expanding its footprint.   ABG will co-own the brand in partnership with Global Brands Group Holding Limited, from whom it acquired the stake. This is the first time ABG and Global Brands, who have had a long history of collaboration, co-own a brand.