Strategy

City of Commerce, Calif. — Net income at 99 Cents Only Stores Inc. slightly increased to $2 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 from $1.9 million a year earlier. Net sales rose 6% to $458.2 million from $433.1 million, while same-store sales increased 0.1%.

99 Cents Only cited the short-term impact of several long-term growth initiatives, as well as California’s ongoing drought, as limiting its financial growth during the quarter.

Fremont, Calif. – Non-deductible costs related to the purchase of Jos. A. Bank helped sharply reduce net earnings at The Men’s Wearhouse during the second quarter of fiscal 2014. The Men’s Wearhouse reported net earnings of $12.3 million, down 71% from $42.9 million the same period a year earlier, although the total still beat Wall Street projections.

Hhgregg has added Robert J. Riesbeck to its executive team as CFO, as part of the retailer’s continued focus on transforming the business.

Riesbeck has more than 25 years of experience in financial and operations management. Most recently, he served as operations executive/group CFO at Sun Capital Partners where he was responsible for financial and operations oversight of a diverse group of portfolio companies with combined revenues exceeding $5 billion.

Cincinnati – The Kroger Co. beat Wall Street expectations with strong net earnings and sales results for the second quarter of fiscal 2014. Net earnings rose 9% to $347 million from $317 million, while total sales increased 12% to $25.3 billion compared to $22.7 billion for the same period in the prior year.

PepsiCo announced its "Purple On!" campaign against bullying. The initiative supports GLAAD's annual Spirit Day, which takes place on Oct. 16. Spirit Day inspires citizens to wear purple to show their stance against bullying, and also to show support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.

Indianapolis — JLL’s Retail Group has been retained to lease and manage Washington Square Mall in Indianapolis. The property’s tenant mix includes more than 80 national, regional and local retailers, and is anchored by Sears, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Target and Burlington Coat Factory.

The nearly one-million-square-foot regional shopping mall was built in 1974 and underwent a comprehensive renovation in 1999. Regional manager Rick Vita is leading the JLL team on this assignment.

Walmart unveiled new details regarding the digital strategy for its Asda division in the United Kingdom that could have implications for how the retailer serves the U.S. market.

U.K. shoppers love the internet and Walmart’s Asda unit is responding with growth of order online, pick up in store capabilities known as Click and Collect, dedicated facilities and the consolidation of Web sites.

North Plainfield, N.J. — David Reiner has joined retail real estate services firm Levin Management as VP of leasing. Most recently, Reiner served as director of real estate for Body Central Stores Inc.

During the past 25 years, he has also has held executive- and management-level retail leasing positions with property owners such as Urban Retail Properties, Colonial Properties Trust, and Simon Property Group.