Mergers & Acquisitions

Winston-Salem, N.C. — Krispy Kreme has announced a development agreement with existing franchisee Great Circle Family Foods to develop 20 new doughnut shops in Southern California. Over the next seven years. Great Circle currently operates 11 Krispy Kreme shops in Southern Calif., making the company Krispy Kreme’s third largest domestic franchisee.

Krispy Kreme can be found in over 800 locations in more than 20 countries around the world.

New York -- eBay posted a profit of $850 million, compared with earnings of $751 million a year ago, for its fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31, 2013, while revenues rose 13% to $4.5 billion, fueled by strong mobile results. In reporting its results, the company also said it has received a proposal from activist investor Carl Icahn seeking to spin off PayPal as a separate company.

Seattle – Nordstrom plans to open a Nordstrom Rack store at Harbison Court in Columbia, S.C., and another at West Towne Crossing in West Towne, Wis. The approximately 34,000-sq.-ft. Columbia store and 30,750-sq.-ft. West Towne store are both scheduled to open in fall 2014.

When it opens, the Harbison Court Nordstrom Rack will be the company's second location in South Carolina, following the recently announced location in Greenville that will also open in fall 2014.

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Forge Real Estate Partners III, co-sponsored by the Sembler Company and Forge Capital, has formed a joint venture with East Coast Acquisitions and acquired Tarrymore Square in North Raleigh, N.C.

Tarrymore Square is a 256,805-sq.-ft. shopping center with a 65% occupancy rate. Existing tenants include Walgreens, Rugged Warehouse, Surplus Warehouse, Rainbow Fashions, Rent-A-Center and Miller-Motte Technical College.

Winston-Salem, N.C. – Krispy Kreme has signed a development agreement with existing franchisee Great Circle Family Foods, LLC, to develop 20 new doughnut shops in Southern California during the next seven years. A Krispy Kreme franchise partner since 1998, Great Circle Family Foods currently operates 11 Krispy Kreme shops in Southern California.

The planned shops are expected to feature Krispy Kreme's new small factory design, including a drive-thru.

New York -- Eminence Capital, which owns 4.9% of the common stock of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers and has been pushing for a deal between the retailer and rival Men’s Wearhouse, has nominated two industry veterans for election as directors to the board at Jos. A. Bank's annual meeting. The nominees include: Bruce J. Klatsky, former chairman of Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, a position he held from 1994 until June 2007, and Norman S. Matthews, former president of Federated Department Stores and active and former board member of other retail and consumer companies.

Perhaps no single brand had a holiday season quite as rocky as Sears. When the retailer announced a string of bad news on Jan. 9, shares of Sears Holding Corp. (which includes both Sears and Kmart) went through the floor. Holiday sales at Sears stores were down 9.2% in the nine weeks prior to Jan. 6, a brutal figure when you consider that overall retail sales were up slightly over the holidays (which I’ll discuss more in my next column).

Dallas -- Corner Bakery Café in 2013 signed 12 new area development agreements with franchisees, adding commitments for more than 120 new locations and raising the total to more than 300 cafes under development as the company moves forward on its goal to double its U.S. footprint in the next three years. Currently, Corner Bakery has more than 160 company-owned and franchised locations in 17 states and Washington, D.C.