Strategy

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.  

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.

Burlington Stores Inc. CEO Tom Kingsbury reported an unexpected sales spike in the third quarter, prompting the company to enthusiastically boost its outlook for the year.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona - JDA Software announced the creation of JDA Labs – a research and development group assembled to drive game-changing innovation.   This global team, headquartered in Montreal, will innovate new and existing products and deliver patents, best practices and entirely new products to the market. JDA Labs currently  is driving research and innovation around three key areas: data science, user experience and product innovation.  

Kroger is highlighting its efforts to fight the U.S. obesity epidemic at a nutrition forum in Italy this month.

Tarrytown, New York - DLC Management Corporation announced its latest acquisition of 11 retail assets in New York, North Carolina, Arkansas and Tennessee totaling 2.58 million sq. ft., of which 1.73 million sq. ft. is owned property.   According to DLC, this acquisition is the largest in its history. The The properties include:  

• 2015 Walden Avenue, 26,500 sq. ft. – Cheektowaga, New York
• Batavia Commons, 49,431 sq. ft. – Batavia, New York

Toronto, Canada - Danier Leather is going for both form and function with a new POS rollout. The retailer's flagship store at the Toronto Eaton Centre, Toronto, has implemented Fujitsu TeamPOS 7000 All-In-One (AIO) hardware. The solution offers faster and sleeker point of sale technology and the capability to integrate with future omnichannel offerings to enhance usability, increase sales capacity and improve the consumer experience, according to Fujitsu.    

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.