FINANCE

Kohl’s Corp. beat analysts’ expectations for the second quarter even as its sales continued to show weakness.     The retailer posted a profit of $140 million, or 77 cents a share for the quarter ended July 30, compared with $130 million, or 66 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding certain items, earnings rose to $1.22 a share from $1.07 a year ago.   Revenue fell 2% to a better-than-expected $4.18 billion. Same-store sales fell 1.8%.  

Macy’s Inc. announced that it will close 100 full-line namesake stores as part of a wider effort to improve its business and succeed in an omnichannel environment. The move comes after six straight quarters of declining same-store sales.      The department store giant said it plans to concentrate its resources on the best-performing locations, and to invest in those stores by adding new vendor shops, increasing the size and quality of staff and new technology.  

Supervalu is moving closer to spinning off its Save-A-Lot discount grocery banner.   The latest SEC filing by Supervalu is its most thoroughly documented to date, and details a 60/40 stock split of Save-A-Lot once it goes public, Twin Cities Business reported.   

Ralph Lauren Corp. swung to a loss in its first quarter as costs related to efforts to turn around its business cut into first quarter earnings. But it still managed to beat Wall Street expectations.   The company lost $22 million, or 27 cents per share, versus net income of $64 million, or 73 cents per share, in the year-ago period.     Revenue in the quarter was down 4% to a better-than-expected $1.55 billion.     

Bankrupt Aeropostale Inc. may not be going out of business after all.   The teen apparel chain has resolved a dispute with lenders that threatened to sink a potential bid from a unit of Versa Capital Management to buy the chain out of bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported.   Versa would keep about 500 Aeropostale stores open, according to the report. 

The momentum at Coach Inc. continued in the fourth quarter, as the company reported healthy same-store sales growth at its North American stores and better-than-expected earnings.   

The off-price retailer sector will continue to build momentum and outperform the apparel retail segment during the next five years.   That’s according to a new report, "Off-Price Retailers Continue to Build Momentum on Value Appeal,” by Moody's Investors Service. Off-price retailers are anticipated to experience apparel revenue growth of 6% - 8%, outperforming the broader apparel segment by a collective 4% in the timeframe.  

Gap Inc. unveiled preliminary results for the second quarter that were not very promising as Banana Republic continues to bleed.   The retailer said revenue and same-store sales slipped for the month of July, and for the second quarter, which ended July 30.   Gap’s net sales for the quarter were $3.85 billion, compared with $3.90 billion for the second quarter last year.  

Aeropostale is negotiating a potential sale to private equity firm Versa Capital Management LLC, Reuters reported. Versa specializes in distressed investments.      In court papers filed at the end of last week,the retailer said it has been in discussions with Versa regarding a possible stalking horse bid at the chain’s bankruptcy auction later this month. The bid by Versa could include a cash payment for Aéropostale’s inventory, and the assumption of more than 500  

A company relatively unknown outside its home base has entered the U.S. retail market in a deal to acquire Mattress Firm Holding Corp., the largest mattress retailer in the United States.