Retail

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. indicated Tuesday it has received the OK from Chinese regulators to move forward with its majority stake in e-commerce company Yihaodian.

According to a report by Wall Street Journal, which cited a Wal-Mart spokesperson in Beijing, the approval will allow Wal-Mart to expand its online presence in China. Under the deal, Wal-Mart will increase its stake in Yihaodian from 18% to 51%.

Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Laval, Quebec -- Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. said Tuesday its subsidiary Circle K Stores will acquire 29 stores in Orlando, Fla., from Florida Oil Holdings.

The transaction is expected to close at the end of August.

The BP-branded stores will be operated by Couche-Tard's Florida Division under the Circle K brand.     

"This is a great opportunity for the Florida Division to strengthen our market share in the Orlando market,” said David Morgan, VP operations, Florida.
 

Purchase, N.Y. -- A SpendingPulse report Tuesday by MasterCard Advisors, in partnership with Wells Fargo, found that July spending at small retailers slowed to 6% year over year. 

This was lower than June’s small retailer growth rate of 8%. The July report also found that with or without food service and gasoline sales, July’s small business growth was the lowest for the past 12 months.

Pure Balance is the name of the “ultra-premium” dry dog food Walmart launched this week.

Glenwillow, Ohio -- Fashion retailer Dots announced Tuesday it has named former Wal-Mart Stores senior VP Lisa Rhodes as its new CEO.
   
Rhodes, who led Wal-Mart’s U.S. apparel merchandising division, has been charged with leading Dots’ march toward 1,000 stores, also announced Tuesday.
    
Prior to her role at Wal-Mart, Rhodes was executive VP and chief merchandising officer for Maurice’s.
   

NEW YORK — American designer, Narciso Rodriguez, will begin an advisory role on Aug. 20 with Banana Republic in partnership with its EVP design and creative director, Simon Kneen, beginning with the fall 2013 collection. In an effort to build upon the strengths of the brand, Banana Republic has created this advisory role specifically for Rodriguez.

New York -- A report released Tuesday by Capital Business Credit found that, overall, importers and manufacturers who sell to America's major retailers are preparing for a surprisingly stronger winter shopping season than expected.

According to the quarterly "Global Retail Manufacturers and Importers Survey," 77% of importers of retail goods believe the fall/winter season will be the same or stronger than last year.

The addition of new stores and a 3.8% same-store sales increase enabled Dick’s Sporting Goods to report record second-quarter results, so long as a botched investment in a leading U.K retailer is excluded.

Sale for the quarter ended July 28 increased 10% to $1.4 billion due primarily to a 3.8% comps increase combined with the addition of four new stores. The 3.8% increase consisted of a 2.9% increase at Dick’s Sporting Goods stores, a 4.4% increase at Dick’s Golf Galaxy stores and a 34.6% increase in the company’s e-commerce business.