Financial/Banking

New York -- Footwear maker Crocs Inc., best known for its colorful plastic clogs, announced a major restructuring that includes closing stores and job cutbacks.

The plan comes on the heels of the company's disappointing second-quarter earnings results. Earlier this month, Crocs reported that second-quarter profit fell 44% to $19.7 million.

Michael Weiss, who started with Express when it was an eight-store operation, will retire as CEO of the 600 plus-store specialty apparel company when its fiscal year ends on January 30, 2015.

He will be succeeded by David Kornberg, 46, president, who will assume the added role of chief executive. Weiss, 73, will remain with Express as nonexecutive chairman of the board.

Columbus, Ohio -- Michael Weiss, who started with Express when it was an eight-store operation, will retire as CEO of the 600 plus-store specialty apparel company when its fiscal year ends on January 30, 2015.

He will be succeeded by David Kornberg, 46, president, who will assume the added role of chief executive. Weiss, 73, will remain with Express as nonexecutive chairman of the board.

Melville, N.Y. – EconsumerServices, an online mediator between unsatisfied customers and e-commerce retailers, has signed JoTo PR as its public relations agency. JoTo PR will assist EConsumerServices in reaching its mass market of online consumers and making industry opinion leaders and government officials aware of the issue of fraud-related chargebacks.

Mahwah, N.J. - Dirk Montgomery, executive VP and CFO of Ascena Retail Group Inc. since January 2013, has accepted a position with a healthcare-related company based in Florida. Ascena has initiated a search process for a new CFO.

Montgomery has agreed to remain through the end of the summer. Randy Pearce, a member of Ascena’s board of directors, chair of the Audit Committee, and former CFO of Regis Corp. from 1998 to 2011, will increase his involvement in overseeing the company’s finance department during the transition.

Stamford, Conn. -- General Electric is spinning off its Synchrony Financial consumer credit business in an initial public offering (IPO) and seeking a market valuation as high as $22 billion. Synchrony offers store credit cards for retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and J.C. Penney Co.

Norwalk, Conn. -- GE Capital announced it is providing Brookstone, the product development company and specialty retailer, with a $115 million senior credit facility. The financing will be used to support the company’s recent acquisition by Sailing Innovation (Sailing) and general working capital needs.

Kmart has been offering Shop Your Way members check-cashing services since September last year, but this week the retailer is making the service available for $1 or less, rather than $3. For the lowered price, members will be able to cash payroll and government checks up to $2,000 and personal checks up to $500.