Mergers & Acquisitions

London, U.K. — Gordon Brothers Europe (GBE), a firm specializing in restructurings for the retail, commercial and industrial sectors, has named Heinz Weber as president, overseeing the European subsidiary of Gordon Brothers Group. Weber has more 10 years of leadership experience with GBE, including managing director, head of D-A-CH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), in a 20-plus-year career.

<The Neiman Marcus Group says currency exchange rates put pressure on traffic in the first quarter as the company reported a smaller than expected boost in same store sales. 

The retailer said same store sales increased 2.2% for the third quarter ended May 2 as the strong dollar had some impact on the retailer’s business.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. — Kohl’s on Thursday announced a series of organizational changes, including the promotion of Michelle Gass to the newly created principal officer position of chief merchandising and customer officer. Gass joined Kohl’s in 2013 as chief customer officer from Starbucks, where she is credited with playing a key role in the coffee giant’s turnaround  several years back.    

Toronto, Canada – Hudson’s Bay Co. Inc. (HBC) swung a net loss of $54 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from net earnings of $176 million in the year-ago period amid higher selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses even as as sales showed strong improvement.  

Oak Brook, Ill. — Retail Properties of America, Inc. (RPAI) has closed on the acquisition of Woodinville Plaza located in the Seattle Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The property was acquired on an unencumbered basis for a gross purchase price of $35.3 million.   

New York — Chip Wilson, the controversial founder of Lululemon Athletic Inc., may well be on the verge of selling his stake in the company, according to numerous reports.    Lululemon, based in Vancouver,  British Columbia, filed a 20.1 million share offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, allowing Wilson and his wife to exit their roughly 14% stake. The couple's stake in the company was worth about $1.34 billion, Reuters reported.  

Batavia, Ill. — Discount grocery powerhouse Aldi announced plans enter the nation’s most populous state, opening approximately 25 stores in Southern California by July 2016.      The chain’s expansion to California is an integral part of a five-year strategic plan to open 650 new stores across the nation. By the end of 2018, Aldi expects to operate nearly 2,000 stores.   

New York — The formerly high-flying J.Crew Group has come down to earth, a victim of fashion miscues and the new competitive landscape. What’s more, the retailer has $1.5 billion in debt on its books, the New York Times reported. Click here for the story.

Fremont, Calif. — Men's Wearhouse on Thursday announced it had signed a 10-year agreement with Macy's to operate men's tuxedo rental shops inside 300 Macy’s locations. The shops are expected to be located in or near the men’s department.

Men's Wearhouse will begin operating 17 pilot tuxedo shops in fall 2015,  and expects the remaining shops to be open by fall 2016. Macy's and Men's Wearhouse will also collaborate to develop a digital tuxedo rental shop on macys.com.

Low-price grocery chain Aldi is coming to Southern California, as the retailer hastens plans to open at least 45 stores in that state by the end of 2016.

The retailer says it plans to hire more than 1,100 people to work in its Southern California stores, as well as at the company's regional headquarters and warehouse in Moreno Valley, Calif.