Mergers & Acquisitions

Independence, Mo. – Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. plans to open 18 new stores in fiscal 2015. As part of the plan, Natural Grocers has closed its previously announced agreement to acquire natural foods retailer Nature’s Pantry Inc. in Independence, Missouri.   The transaction closed on Dec. 7, and Natural Grocers began officially operating as a Natural Grocers store on Dec. 8. 

Fairway Market announced that Howard Glickberg, whose grandfather took a fruit and vegetable stand in New York and turned it into a 15-store grocery chain, is retiring.

Glickberg most recently served as vice chair of real estate development for Fairway. He will remain a member of the retailer’s board of directors, Fairway said. He worked with the company for more than 40 years, serving as its CEO until 2011.

Chicago - Nearly half of CFOs expect the U.S. economy to improve during the next six months and only 9% expect it to worsen, according to the Grant Thornton LLP 2014 Fall CFO Survey. The biannual survey reflects the insights of more than 1,000 CFOs and other senior financial executives across the United States.  

Melville, New York - A&G Realty Partners, a commercial real estate, advisory and investment group, has been retained by Alco Stores to manage the sale of approximately 200 Alco store locations, as well as the company’s former headquarters. The sale is a result of the retailer’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on October 12, 2014.  

Plenty of retailers talk about returning cash to shareholders, but none does so as aggressively as The Buckle which just announced a whopper of a special dividend.

The Kearney, Neb.-based operator of 463 stores said it would pay a $2.77 special dividend in addition to its regular quarterly dividend of 23 cents on Jan. 27 to shareholders of record on Jan. 15. It is the seventh consecutive year the debt-free specialty retailer of young men’s and women’s apparel has paid a special dividend on top of its quarterly payout.

Higher same store sales and its purchase of Saks Inc. last year helped Hudson’s Bay Co. post a smaller quarterly loss in the third quarter.

The company had a $13 million net loss and profits of $116 million, both improvements from the same time last year. Same-store sales rose 1.7% in the third quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has turned to a Sears veteran for leadership after longtime and occasionally divisive CEO Michael Jeffries abruptly retired.

Abercrombie announced it will be run by a newly created Office of the Chairman, which includes former Sears CEO and current non-executive chairman of Abercrombie; COO Jonathan Ramsden; Christos Angelides, who oversees the Abercrombie & Fitch division; and Fran Horowitz, who leads Hollister.

Martinez retired from Sears in 2000 after serving as chairman and CEO there for five years.

Simon Premium Outlets heads into 2015 with 6.4 million sq. ft. in development  New York - Simon Property Group is expanding its Premium Outlets portfolio with a worldwide development pipeline of 6.4 million square feet and a total investment of $2.5 billion.   

New York - Shack Corp. on Monday denied that it  defaulted on a loan from its term lenders—Salus Capital Partners and Cerberus Capital Management—less than a week after the chain initially disputed the allegations as “wrong and self-serving,” the Wall Street Journal reported.  

  IRVINE, Calif.- JustEnough Software Corp announced that Eastern Mountain Sports, has gone live with JustEnough’s retail planning solution to better plan and forecast for its 68 stores and e-commerce site.