Mergers & Acquisitions

Michaels Companies will unveil a 26,500-sq.-ft. Pat Catan’s Crafts and Floral store on May 13 – the first opening since Michaels acquired Pat Catan’s parent company earlier this year.

Women now make up the majority of the leadership team at Best Buy, theStar Tribunereported, with the retailer reaching the tipping point in April when it hired Trish Walker from Accenture as president of services. Having more gender diversity has been a commitment of Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly, who took over in September 2012, the report said.

The e-commerce giant has entered into an agreement with Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings for Atlas to operate 20 Boeing Co. cargo planes for Amazon. Atlas Air will operate the 20 converted freighters for Amazon on leases from seven to 10 years. “We are excited to welcome a great provider, Atlas Air, to support package delivery to the rapidly growing number of Prime members who love ultra-fast delivery, great prices and vast selection from Amazon,” said Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior VP of worldwide operations.

The Limited has entered the fast-growing value retail sector.

Moving under the radar, The Limited has quietly debuted a new store concept, called Backroom at the Limited, in six malls across the nation.

The format offers a mix of work-to-weekend apparel, jewelry and accessories, with the merchandise made exclusively for the Backroom as well as the Limited’s outlet stores.

Teen apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch is losing a key member of its executive team.

Jonathan Ramsden, COO, is resigning from Abercrombie effective June 15, 2006. Ramsden, who joined the company in 2008 as executive VP and CFO, was promoted to COO in 2014.

Beatrice Lafon, the CEO of teen accessories retailer Claire's Stores, has resigned and been replaced by a current member of the board, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

In a not unexpected move, Fairway Group Holding Corp., operator of the Fairway Market supermarket chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
   
The company filed a “prepackaged” bankruptcy restructuring under which its lenders agreed to exchange existing debt for new equity and debt in a reorganized company. Supporting lenders agreed to vote in favor of the plan and exchange their loans for common equity and $84 million of debt of the reorganized company.

In a move rumored for weeks, Aéropostale on Wednesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The struggling teen apparel retailer said it would close 113 stores in the United States and all 41 of its stores in Canada. Store closing sales in the United States will begin this weekend (May 7-8), and in Canada during the week of May 9.