Mergers & Acquisitions

Columbus, Ohio -- JC's 5 Star Outlet, formerly the outlet store division of J.C. Penney, is winding down operations and closing its 15 stores. "Going out of business" sales will start Wednesday, offering shoppers deeper discounts than the usual outlet prices of 25% to 75% off retail.

The 5 Star Outlet stores, which had been designated for closure by J.C. Penney, were acquired by SB Acquisitions in October 2011, and rebranded JC's 5 Star Outlet.
   

Walgreens filled a record 821 million prescriptions which helped boost the company’s retail pharmacy market share for the fiscal year to 19.1%. 

Walgreens posted a sales gain of 0.8% for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, reaching a record $72.2 billion. Early morning trading boosted Walgreens' share price from a close of $53.80 on Monday to $56.06, an increase of 4.2%.

New York -- Tesco Plc’s Fresh & Easy chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a plan to sell most of the U.S. chain’s 167 stores to a private equity firm led by billionaire Ron Burkle.

Fresh & Easy cited debt between $500 million and $1 billion in a court filing on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. According to the documents, a unit of Tesco will end up with a 22.5% stake in the Yucaipa affiliate that acquires the supermarket chain.

Lands' End has named Michele Donnan-Martin as the company’s EVP and chief merchandising design officer. Donnan-Martin will report directly to CEO and president Edgar Huber.

She will be charged with leading all aspects of merchandising and design to ensure alignment of product development, price point strategies and design aesthetic to embrace and further build upon the Lands' End's brand. 

Thibodaux, La. -- Southern grocery store operator Rouses Markets will take ownership of six former Belle Foods stores in Alabama from Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), a retail-owner cooperative of which Rouses Markets is a member. AWG and its group of grocers and operators submitted the winning bid last week at the Belle Foods bankruptcy auction in Birmingham.

This is Rouses Markets' first expansion into Alabama. The company currently operates 38 stores in Louisiana and Mississippi. Three new stores in Louisiana were also recently announced.

Hollywood, Calif. – On Sept. 26, 2013, the board of directors of Frederick’s of Hollywood Group Inc. received a non-binding proposal letter from a consortium of HGI Funding LLC, TTG Apparel, LLC, Tokarz Investments, LLC, Fursa Alternative Strategies LLC, and Arsenal Group LLC to acquire all of the outstanding shares of its common stock.

Ending years of speculation, the Container Store late Monday filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public stock offering.

The operator of 62 stores in 22 states with annual sales of $702 million contends the U.S. can support as many as 300 locations with international growth also a possibility. The company expects to open six stores during the current fiscal year and seven stores next year. The company’s stores average around 19,000-sq.-ft. and carry approximately 10,500 items grouped in 16 departments.

Montreal -- Luxury jewelry store operator Birks & Mayors Inc. announced that effective Oct. 1, its corporate name will be changed to Birks Group Inc. and its ticker symbol will be changed to BGI.