Mergers & Acquisitions

Walgreens Walgreens has named Linda Filler as president of retail products and chief merchandising officer effective Jan. 1.

Walgreens President and CEO Greg Wasson said: “With the addition of Linda, our retail products division will be well-positioned to join with Alliance Boots to deliver the unique combination of products and services that will set apart our future combined company.”

New York - On the heels of its eight straight quarterly loss, Aeropostale said it would close about 75 stores in the current quarter, and could close 50 to 75 more namesake locations in 2015, and 126 P.S. from Aeropostale stores by the end of January.   The struggling teen retailer reported a net loss of $52.3 million in the third quarter ended Nov. 1,  up from $25.6 million, in the year ago period. It also forecast a bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.  

New York - Deb Stores Holding LLC, owner of Deb Shops, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, with plans to close  stores and sell inventory if it can’t find a buyer for the business.   

Atlanta - Avison Young has completed the $15 million sale of Brannon Crossing, an upscale shopping center with 60,780 sq. ft. of leasable space located at 405-435 Peachtree Parkway in Cumming, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta.    The transaction comes on the heels of the firm’s recent disposition of the 27,057-sq.-ft. Lindbergh Crossing Shopping Center in Atlanta for $7.06 million.   

Kmart eked out a positive third quarter same store sales increase, but parent company Sears Holdings still reported a $548 million loss while CEO Edward Lampert claimed customers are responding to transformation efforts.

Houston - JLL has appointed Naveen Jaggi as president of JLL Americas Retail Brokerage. Jaggi comes to JLL from CBRE, where he was a senior managing director of Retail Services.

In his new role at JLL, Jaggi will oversee more than 100 brokers, spanning 25 major markets, who serve the firm’s 500 retail owner and occupier clients. Jaggi is also tasked with creating deeper integration, collaboration and consistency across the Americas retail platform and globally.

Academy Service Group, a nationwide provider of facility maintenance services, has acquired Absolute Maintenance, a Northern New Jersey-based facilities maintenance fleet.

Academy Service Group offers pest control, cleaning, janitorial, plumbing, handyman and general maintenance services to its portfolio of multi-site facilities and chain store clients. Michael Rose, CEO of Academy Service Group, has stepped up efforts to expand the self-performing reach in Northern New Jersey and New York City region.

Brand-building expert and consultant Denise Lee Yohn has released her annual outlook for the year,  “Brands to Watch in 2015.”