Financial/Banking

Dallas -- Alliance Data Systems Corp., a provider of loyalty and marketing solutions derived from transaction-rich data, announced its Retail Services business has signed a multi-year renewal agreement to continue providing the private label credit card program for multichannel home furnishings retailer Crate and Barrel.

This year, in partnership with Alliance Data, Crate and Barrel introduced a rewards-based credit card that allows customers to earn rewards across all three brands: Crate and Barrel, CB2 and The Land of Nod.

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp. reported Wednesday that net income for the quarter ended Sept. 2 jumped 27% to $609 million, from $478 million in the year-ago period. The warehouse club operator credited strong sales and higher member fees for the improved profit performance.

Sales climbed 14% to $31.52 billion, and same-store sales rose 5%. Membership fee revenue rose 18% to $694 million. The company said it plans to open up to 14 new warehouses before the end of calendar year 2012.

TOPEKA, Kan. — Payless Holdings has named Paul Jones as CEO. Jones was most recently chairman, president and CEO of Shopko Stores, a $2.7 billion mass merchandiser providing quality products and health services at great values in small to mid-sized markets. Jones will be based in Topeka and will join the company in an official capacity on Oct. 22.
 

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. said Tuesday that CFO James Muehlbauer has resigned the company. He will continue in an advisory capacity until Feb. 3.

The retailer said it has launched a search for a permanent replacement.

Muehlbauer’s resignation is the latest in a string of executive departures for Best Buy, and comes as founder and former chairman Richard Schulze mulls an offer to buy the company.

MINNEAPOLIS — More unsettling news from Best Buy this week, as the company announced the departure of EVP and CFO Jim Muehlbauer.

Muehlbauer, who joined the company in 2002, will support the company through 2013 as it searches for a new finance chief.

Atlanta -- The SpendTrend analysis for September, released Tuesday by First Data Corp., found that card spending in September was down from the month prior.

The report, which tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations, showed that overall dollar volume growth was 5.8%, down from August’s 7.2% growth.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp., which in February announced it would spin off its Hometown and Outlet businesses as a separate publicly traded entity, said Tuesday it expects to receive about $446.5 million in gross proceeds from an offering tied to the spinoffs.

The offering of rights to purchase shares of the spinoff debuted on the Nasdaq under the "SHOSR" ticker symbol in September. According to Sears, the rights offering expired on Monday; preliminary results show that more than 95% of the options were exercised.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only person in the industry to raise an eyebrow when the S&P Retail Index notched an all-time high last month. Closing at $669.26 on September 14th to reach that milestone, the index has continued to creep up even further the last couple of weeks. A closer look at the stock market performance of the retail sector shows that both REITs and many individual retailers are continuing a strong positive trend—which makes sense, of course, because REITs will perform better in a strong retail environment when retailers are doing well.