Retail

Anaheim, Calif. -- Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $7.5 million, in line with Wall Street estimates, compared to net loss of $19.2 million in the year ago period, helped by improved sales in its men’s division. But the teen apparel retailer forecast a wider-than-expected loss for the current quarter.


The company posted revenue of $211.7 million in the period, better than expected, up from million from $210.1 million last year.

For the second consecutive quarter, Toys “R” Us has delivered positive comparable store net sales results in its U.S. and international segments.

After several years of market weakness, the company’s international business as whole has begun to rebound, driven primarily by net sales increases in Japan and the U.K. Business in China and Southeast Asia remains strong, as the company continues its expansion in that region.

Tustin, Calif. -- Retail real estate brokerage and consulting firm Present Value Properties announced that it has named Andrew McLean as VP. McLean, who will be based in the firm’s Tustin, California, office, most recently served as a VP with Lee & Associates.

The Family Dollar board is under new pressure to walk away from a deal with Dollar Tree after Dollar General further increased an already more generous counter offer.

Early Monday Dollar General increased its all cash offer to $80 a share from $78.50 a share and increased the number of stores it said it would be willing to divest to 1,500 from 700. The company also said it would be willing to pay Family Dollar a $500 million reverse break-up if the deal failed to secure antitrust clearance.

New York -- RKF announced that it has arranged two new leases at the Grace Building in Midtown for chef Gabriel Kreuther’s first solo restaurant and Bluestone Lane Coffee. The Grace Building is co-owned by Brookfield and The Swig Company.

Hingham, Mass. - Talbots has selected Mi9 BI, Mi9 Merchant, and Sales Audit solutions with loss prevention software products to replace its existing core merchandising and inventory management systems. Talbots needed technology to help streamline the merchandising process, including the re-classifying of product hierarchy and centrally managing inventory across all channels.

Nordstrom Inc. has become the first retailer to launch the Like2Buy platform, which allows Nordstrom.com customers to directly purchase items featured on the retailer’s Instagram page. The commerce-enablement of visually oriented social platforms, such as Instagram, Pinterest and Vine, is an inevitable development as social media becomes more focused on photos and videos and less on text. The preference most Millennials have for visually oriented social media reinforces the value that commerce enabling these platforms has for retailers.

Online sales at regional department store operator Belk grew 43% during the second quarter, prompting the company to announce a major investment in its e-commerce and fulfillment capabilities.