Financial/Banking

Los Angeles -- Midtown Shopping Center Associates said it has acquired the land under Midtown Shopping Center plus two adjacent properties totaling 14.56 acres for $42.5 million from Catellus Development Corp., based in Denver.  

San Jose, Calif. -- Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Corp. reported Monday a loss of $33.6 million for the quarter ended Feb. 2, widened from a loss of $7.3 million in the year-ago period.

Sales for the quarter rose to $153 million from $141.6 million, and same-store sales edged up 1.6%.

For the full year,  the company lost $118.4 million, compared with a loss of $14.5 million in the prior year. Sales dipped to $657.3 million, compared to $660.5 million for fiscal 2011.

Washington, D.C. -- The retail industry, the nation’s largest private sector employer, added 29,000 jobs in April, indicating that retailers are seeing signs of an improving economy, and as a result, added to their payrolls heading into the summer, according to the National Retail Federation.

Still, the NRF sounded a cautious note.

Washington, D.C. -- U.S. consumer spending averaged $86 a day in April 2013, according to new figures from Gallup. This number is essentially flat compared to $89 in March and $83 in February.
    
According to Gallup analysis, the lack of change in consumer spending in recent months may reflect the recent increase in payroll tax, as well as the early Easter holiday. Consumer spending remains well above levels recorded during the economic recession of 2008-2011.

New York -- Employees show increased levels of anxiety about their income, benefits and security, according to a new poll from Harris Interactive. Aggregated concern about these three issues rose from 56% in March to 57% in April.

New York -- Sally Beauty Holdings Inc.’s second-quarter earnings decreased 4.3% amid sluggish sales. The company earned $64.9 million in the quarter ended March 31, compared with $67.8 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 1% to $898.2 million from $889.3 million in the year-ago period.

Same-store sales were down 0.8%.

Gary Winterhalter, chairman, president and CEO says that the quarter's performance reflected in part lower traffic fueled by two fewer days compared with the prior year quarter.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Callidus Software, a leading provider of hiring, learning, marketing and selling cloud software, has appointed Bob L. Corey to serve as SVP, CFO. Corey will report to Leslie Stretch, the company's president and CEO.

Los Angeles -- Sport Chalet announced it has retained Financial Profiles as its investor relations firm.

"We have a number of important strategic initiatives in place to drive shareholder value and the time is right to step up our investor relations efforts," said Craig Levra, chairman and CFO of Sport Chalet. "We are pleased to collaborate with Financial Profiles to develop and implement a strategic investor relations program designed to build Sport Chalet's visibility within the investment community."