Corporate Governance

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – A reduction in selling, general and administrative expenses helped Sears Holdings Corp. reduce its first quarter net loss even as its sales continued to slide. The results came in as the chain prepares for the launch of its real-estate investment trust this week to raise cash. Sears said it expects the REIT transaction to raise $2.6 billion.

New York -- Rising rents are causing another national chain to exit a high-profile location in Manhattan. Home-furnishings retailer Crate & Barrel will close its flagship on Madison Avenue (at 59th Street) on Aug. 2, after negotiating an early exit from its lease, according to the Wall Street Journal. The store opened in 1995.

The closing will leave the city with just one Crate & Barrel, in the Soho section of downtown Manhattan.

PetSmart is enlisting the help of a cat-loving celebrity to launch a new kind of social media campaign.

The retailer has teamed up with actress Mayim Bialik to celebrate cat ownership and encourage cat adoption. Mayim, a longtime cat lover who is very passionate about adoption, has an adopted cat named Frances, a once feral cat that was deserving of a forever home. 

EXETER, N.H. -- Bauer Hockey announced today that it will open its second retail store, in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Bloomington location is the second to be announced by Bauer Hockey, with the first-ever store expected to open in Burlington, Massachusetts, this summer.

The retail industry is accustomed to weak same store sales at Sears and Kmart, but the magnitude of the decline the company experienced in the first quarter was large even by its standards.

Photo: Fred Morganthall has been named senior VP of retail divisions for The Kroger Co.

Oak Brook, Ill. -- Retail Properties of America Inc. announced that Macy’s new off-price format, Macy’s Backstage, has signed a 35,200-sq.-ft. lease at Fordham Place in the Bronx, New York, as RPAI continues to execute on its remerchandising strategy of upgrading its tenancy and enhancing the dominance of its shopping centers.

The first of Macy’s new off price Backstage stores aren’t due to open until this fall, but already the retailer is adding more locations for an off price format heralded as a key growth initiative.

The nation’s largest department store retailer created a stir earlier this year when it disclosed plans to open its first four Backstage stores in the greater New York area. The two additional locations are also in close proximity to New York. The stores are about 30,000-sq.-ft. and are staffed by 30 to 45 employees.