FINANCE

The nation’s highest-profile electric car-marker is taking an unusual route to get its product out in front of potential customers.

Bed Bath & Beyond made another move to boost its online offerings by acquiring a home furnishings and home décor flash-sales site.

Solid. That’s how many industry analysts described retail sales in May.   Driven partly by rising gasoline prices, sales increased 0.5% in May, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, above the 0.3% gain economists expected. Excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants, retail sales rose 0.2% unadjusted over April, according to the National Retail Federation.   

Draw Another Circle, the parent company of Texas-based Hastings Entertainment, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with hopes of finding a buyer for its Hastings superstores.    

The combination of a cool spring and the continued pullback in luxury apparel spending took a toll on Neiman Marcus Group in the company’s third quarter.    The department store retailer’s profit plunged 80% in the period ended April 30, down to $3.8 million from $19.8 million in the year-ago period.    Total revenue for the quarter fell 4.2% to $1.17 billion, down from $1.22 billion a year ago.   Same-stores sales fell 5%.   

Aéropostale has received final approval for $160 million in debtor in-possession financing provided by Crystal Financial LLC.

Specialty apparel retailer Christopher & Banks Corp. is not out of the red, but headed in the right direction during the first quarter of fiscal 2016.
 
The company reported net loss of $0.2 million, down from a net loss of $1.4 million the same quarter the previous fiscal year. Improved gross margin helped shrink the loss. Net sales totaled $100 million, an increase of 9%, compared to $91.6 million.

Francesca’s Holdings Corp. saw net income decline, but still beat Wall Street predictions, in the first quarter of fiscal 2016.
 
The specialty apparel retailer reported net income of $7/08 million, down 2% from $7.24 million the same quarter a year earlier. Higher selling, general and administrative (S,G&A) expenses offset improvements in gross profit.
 

Specialty home furnishings retailer Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (RH) had what could be termed a messy start to the fiscal year.
 
RH swung to a net loss of $13.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2016, compared to net earnings of $7.2 million the prior year period, falling short of Wall Street expectations. Revenue grew 8% to $455.5 million from $422.4 million, but also missed projections. Increases in cost of goods sold and selling, general and administrative (S,G&A) expenses helped push the retailer into the red despite improving sales.

Jane Hamilton Nielsen, who just left her position as CFO of Coach Inc. to pursue other opportunities, is not waiting long to make her new role known.

According to Fortune, Ralph Lauren is expected to announce Nielsen’s hiring as its new CFO. She would replace current Ralph Lauren CFO Robert Madore, who has held that title since April 2015.