Corporate Governance

New Albany, Ohio – It was tough going for Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter, with declines in both income and sales. Looking ahead, the company said its priorities include increasing comparable sales trends in both its U.S. and international stores, making strategic investments in its omnichannel business, ongoing expense reductions, and selective expansion in high-growth international markets.

New York – A Dutch court has reportedly set aside a $449.5 million arbitration payment Tiffany & Co. had been ordered to make to Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group AG in December 2013. According to the New York Times, a three-member panel of judges ruled in favor of a counterclaim Tiffany filed in March 2014.

Hangzhou, China - Aliyun, Alibaba’s cloud computing business, is opening its first overseas data center, in California’s Silicon Valley, in what seems to be a competitive move into the space currently dominated by Amazon Web Services. The center will initially target Chinese enterprises based in the United States with the plan to gradually expand its products and services to international clients in the second half of this year.

Mahwah, N.J. – Higher selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses, including asset impairment charges primarily related to lower-than-expected operating performance at the struggling Justice banner, cut into profits at Ascena Retail Group Inc. during the second quarter of fiscal 2015.

Ascena, the operator of Justice, as well as stores under the Lane Bryant, Cacique, Maurices, Dressbarn, and Catherines banners, said combined same store sales declined 2% during the quarter, ended Jan. 25, due to sluggish sales at Justice.

New York – Activist investor Starboard Value LP, which holds a 4.5% ownership stake in Staples Inc., is telling Staples it needs to improve its board of directors to complete a proposed acquisition of Office Depot. In an open letter to members of the Staples board from Starboard Value managing member Jeffrey C. Smith, the combined companies’ board must have the “proper skill set” in place to oversee the integration.

Sunbury, Pa. – Decreasing pretax income helped reduce net income at Weis Markets Inc. 12% to $13.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 from $15.7 million in the year-ago period. Net sales rose 4% to $713.8 million from $686.4 million, while same-store sales increased 3.5%.

The company attributed its sales increases to its pricing programs, which were fully implemented in the first quarter. Its results also benefited from strong sales increases in pharmacy, HBC and its fresh departments.

Springfield, N.J. – The impact of two replacement stores and a same-store sales increase of 2.5% helped boost net income at Village Super Market Inc. 146% to $6.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2015, from $2.8 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Sales rose 5% to $411.2 million, from $392.24 million.

Village Super Market expects same store sales in fiscal 2015 to range from a 1.5% to 2.5% increase.
 

Dallas -- Trademark Property Co., the operating partner for The Shops at Highland Village, has announced a multi-million dollar renovation of the 352,000-sq.-ft. shopping center that includes enhanced common area improvements, upgraded landscaping, new amenities for adults and children, updated facades, and new signage throughout the property.

New York -- Dolce & Gabbana will open a flagship store in the 15,000-sq.-ft. 155 Mercer Street building in the SoHo area of New York City.

Thor Equities leased the entire building to the Italian luxury fashion house, which plans to re-create the original brownstone façade.

Originally built in 1855 as Firemen’s Hall, the historical property was most recently home to dance performance venue the Joyce Theater. The four-level building includes 50 ft. of frontage on Mercer Street.
 

Irvine, Calif. -- Hanley Investment Group announced that Ed Hanley, Kevin Fryman and Eric Wohl negotiated the sale of an 88,000-sq.-ft. Kohl's Department Store, located in the Los Angeles area. The single-tenant triple-net leased property sold for $21,950,000, representing a historic national record-breaking low cap rate of 4.80%.