Mergers & Acquisitions

Burlington, Mass. — New England regional fitness company, Wow! WorkOut World has subleased an 18,474-sq.-ft. space at Pawcatuck Shopping Center in Pawcatuck, Conn. KeyPoint Partners negotiated the sublease on behalf of its client Stop & Shop.

Pawcatuck Shopping Center is a convenience-oriented center with a variety of local tenants and a Rite Aid pharmacy.

The KeyPoint Partners leasing team handles leasing for retail properties totaling nearly six million sq. ft.

New York -- J. Crew Group Inc. reported a 42% decrease in its fiscal fourth-quarter profit amid higher costs. Net income fell to $5.92 million in the quarter, which ended Feb. 1., down from $10.2 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue increased 6.7% to $686.2 million. Retail store sales rose 5% to $438.6 million and direct sales jumped 10% to $238.1 million

Same-store sales, which includes direct sales, rose 3%. Excluding a calendar shift, comparable-store sales increased 4%.

The Hilco Global Retail Group is rebranding its recently acquired Steele's retail stores as Steele's & Deals. The company also appointed several key executive leaders who will take over new management roles at the retail chain.

The company feels that the Steele's & Deals name more accurately communicates value to customers.

Plano, Texas – In a March 21 regulatory filing, J.C. Penney Co. Inc. said it does not expect the result of a lawsuit filed by Macy’s Inc. alleging that Penney was selling Martha Stewart Living products in violation of an exclusivity agreement to have a significant negative impact on its results.

Bexley, Ohio — Stanbery Development has named Marc Hays as a partner. He will focus on finding locations for new developments and acquisitions as well as leasing.

Borderfree is a digital company focused on helping retailers sell to anyone anywhere and last Friday the company sold itself to investor’s by completing an initial public stock offering.

The company priced its offering of five million shares at $16 and enjoyed a 32% pop at the open when shares began trading at $21. The upward momentum proved to be unsustainable and by the close shares had receded to $20, registering a still respectable first day gain of 25%.

San Francisco – Private equity firm Golden Gate Capital Corp. disclosed in a regulatory filing that it has purchased a 9.5% ownership stake in Ann Inc., parent of Ann Taylor.  

In a letter to the Ann Inc. board of directors, Golden Gate said it looks forward to working collaboratively with Ann Inc. The company said that it did not plan to seek changes to the retailer’s board or executive team, or to push for a sale

Indianapolis -- Simon Property Group is launching a new business, Simon Venture Group, that will invest in retail innovation, focusing on technology opportunities that enhance the shopping experience.

"We believe we have only scratched the surface on applying technology to the retail environment in innovative, interesting ways," said Mikael Thygesen, chief marketing officer of Simon Property Group.