Corporate Governance

New York -- NRF president Matthew Shay told attendees of retail’s Big Show in New York City this week that the industry is well positioned for 2015 – with support from Washington, D.C.

Family Dollar is urging its shareholders to support a buyout offer from rival discounter Dollar Tree with less than two weeks remaining before a vote on the pending deal.

Family Dollar shareholders are scheduled to vote Jan. 22. on whether to accept the Dollar Tree offer.

Family Dollar has rejected numerous approaches from Dollar General, the latest worth $9.1 billion in cash, in favor of an $8.5 billion cash-and-stock offer from Dollar Tree. It has cited risks that the Dollar General deal would be blocked because of anti-monopoly rules.

San Diego – PriceSmart Inc. reported mixed results for the first quarter of fiscal 2015, missing Wall Street expectations for net income but exceeding revenue forecasts. Net income totaled $20.65 million, down 4% from $21.43 million.

Higher income taxes and expenses drove the decline in profit. Total revenues fared better, growing 8% to $656 million, from $605.6 million. Same-store sales rose 1.5%.
 

Seattle – In a surprising move, the second in command at Starbucks Corp., COO Troy Alstead, 51, is taking an extended, unpaid leave of absence from the company starting March 1. Alstead, a 23-year Starbucks veteran, is responsible for day-to-day operations of the coffee giant, a position he was appointed to in January 2014. He is widely viewed as a potential successor to CEO Howard Schultz.

Reuters is reporting a new complicating factor in the ongoing saga of efforts by Dollar Tree and Dollar General to buy Family Dollar.

Some 20 state attorneys general have joined the federal antitrust investigation of competing bids by Dollar General Corp. and Dollar Tree Inc. to buy Family Dollar Stores Inc., a development that potentially complicates the companies' efforts to win U.S. approval for a deal.

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The National Retail Federation’s Big Show 2015 is a prime opportunity to demo the latest tech advancements from leading retail solution providers. The Oracle Retail team will be onsite with a small army of product experts, partners and customers to showcase its new 14.1 innovations, combined with powerful new functionality through the acquisition of MICROS.

Boot Barn’s efforts to expand its footprint may be paying off, as the western wear retailer reported net sales of approximately $130.5 million, compared to net sales of $115.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2014.

Washington, D.C. -- Year-over-year import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to continue to rise during most of the first half of 2015 despite significant congestion still impacting West Coast ports, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.