Corporate Governance

Richmond, Va. — Divaris Real Estate has renewed its lease with CitiTrends for 12,000 sq. ft. at the Brookhill Azalea Shopping Center in Richmond, Va.

DRE represented BSV Premier Brookhill LLC, the landlord. Specializing in low-priced urban brands for the whole family, CitiTrends operates six stores in Richmond.

By Lee Peterson, wdpartners.com

Across-the-board payroll cuts have rarely delivered margins long-term for retailers. Crude cuts are more than misguided today, but a dangerous strategy for stores in the fight for survival against Amazon.

New York -- A buyout of Saks could further downgrade the retailer’s already low credit rating. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, credit rating provider S&P has placed Saks’ already non-investment-grade rating on watch for potential downgrade because any buyout would likely be leveraged with a large amount of debt. S&P currently gives Saks a credit rating of BB, the second-highest “junk bond” rating, which affects Saks’ loan interest rates.

Vancouver, B.C. – 99 Cents Only Stores is digitizing its audit management procedures with the ACL GRC internal audit management system. Leveraging the GRC solution, the retailer will replace spreadsheets and shared drives. Anticipated benefits include increased collaboration and visibility among team members, the ability to more easily perform risk assessments and scoring, and ease of workflow adjustment as new issues and risks are identified.

Camp Hill, Pa. – Rite Aid will remove François J. Coutu from the board of directors effective as of Oct. 31. 24/7 Wall Street reports that a recent share sale by The Jean Coutu Group, which has held a seat on the board since 2007, brings its ownership of the company under the 5% threshold for board membership.

According to 24/7 Wall Street, The Jean Coutu Group has been selling Rite Aid shares at less than purchase price for some time.

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Domino’s Pizza, Inc. delivered strong results in net income, revenues and same-store sales during second quarter 2013. Net income totaled $33.3 million, up 18.5% from $28.1 million the same quarter a year earlier. Total revenues were about $414.1 million, up roughly 10% from $376.1 million a year earlier. Same-store sales rose 5.8% following an increase of 5.7% a year earlier, driven by 6.8% growth in domestic franchise stores.

Irvine, Calif. – Taco Bell plans to discontinue all kids’ meals and toys at its U.S. restaurants. The fast-food chain will start removing the items from its menu at stores this month at anticipates to have eliminated all kids’ meals and toys in the U.S. by January of next year. Menu items from kids’ meals will remain available for individual purchase.

Greg Creed, CEO of Taco Bell, said kids’ meals are not part of the company’s long-range strategy and have an insignificant impact on overall sales.

Fort Worth, Texas - RadioShack Corp. on Tuesday reported a second-quarter loss that was bigger than analysts expected. However, revenue beat expectations, with the first increase in same-store sales since 2010, and the chain announced it was bringing on consultants to help with its turnaround.

Same store sales increased 1.3% at RadioShack during the second quarter, but clearance driven sales activity took a toll on profitability and the retailer enlisted the services of several turnaround firms.

LAKEVILLE-MIDDLEBORO, Mass. — Ocean Spray Cranberries has appointed Thano Chaltas to the newly created role of global CMO. He will report directly to Ken Romanzi, SVP and COO of Ocean Spray Brands.

Chaltas will be responsible for global brand development, and a part of the grower-owned cooperative’s leadership team.