Retail

Los Angeles — A private buyer has acquired Huntington Plaza, a 57,148-sq.-ft. shopping center in Monrovia, Calif., in the San Gabriel Valley. Anchored by Sprouts Farmers Market and Walgreens, the center was 96% leased at the time of the sale. The tenant roster includes McDonald’s, Jersey Mikes, Flame Broiler, Great Clips and Pacific Dental.

The owner engaged Studley and Colliers International to offer the property for sale. The two companies have jointly handled the leasing of Huntington Plaza for more than six years.

The months-long back and forth is over. The Men's Wearhouse will acquire all outstanding shares of Jos. A. Bank’s common stock for $65 per share in cash, or total consideration of $1.8 billion. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction.

Together, Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank will have more than 1,700 stores in the U.S., making it the fourth largest U.S. men's apparel retailer with approximately 23,000 employees and sales of $3.5 billion on a pro forma basis.

Cincinnati – The Kroger Co. earned a better-than-expected $422 million in its fourth quarter, down from $462 million in the year-ago period, which included an additional week of sales. The nation’s largest supermarket operator issued a better-than-expected profit for the year ahead.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples on Thursday said it will close 225 stores by the end of 2015 amid falling fourth-quarter revenue, increased competition, and a shift to online sales. The big-box office-supply category, which was battered by the recession, has come under increased competition from Walmart and other discounters and online retailers such as Amazon. Most recently, Staples’ rivals Office Depot and OfficeMax completed a $1.2 billion merger.

Walmart’s tepid sales performance in the fourth quarter is water under the bridge, so when Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon spoke this week at an investor conference he quickly focused on the growth potential of smaller stores, which are being expanded at a more rapid pace.

Duluth, Ga. - NCR has released the NCR Silver subscription-based iPad POS solution aimed at helping small businesses create, run and manage reward programs. Loyalty complements the existing automated email and social marketing functionality in NCR Silver, making it even easier for cafés, shops, restaurants, boutiques, food trucks, and any small business to reward customers for repeat purchases.

The NPD Group has signed a market information services agreement with Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, for school and office supplies retail market data and analytic services.  

By combining Nielsen’s market information, including sales data from food and drug channels, with NPD’s existing school and office supplies business, which covers office superstores, mass merchants, e-commerce and other retailers, NPD says it will deliver the industry’s most complete view of the marketplace.

Framingham, Mass. – Cumberland Farms is reportedly selling 27 stores in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, to Petroleum Marketing Group, based in Woodbridge, Va. According to the Boston Globe, the stores will continue to operate as convenience stores and all roughly 600 affected employees are expected to keep their jobs.

Cumberland Farms will focus on its nearly 600 remaining stores in New England, New York, and Florida. Both companies are private and terms were not disclosed.