Distribution

Private equity firm Sun Capital Partners plans to accelerate growth of Furniture Factory Outlet following its acquisition of the 36 store chain.

Based in Fort Smith, Ark., Furniture Factory Outlet (FFO Home) operates 36 stores in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Sun Capital said it acquired the company, billed as a value-oriented home furnishings retailer, from Alpine Investors and believes significant expansion opportunities exist. The company also manufactures bedding under the Comfort Coil and Natural Elements brands.

Boston -- Gordon Brothers Group has acquired the inventory, equipment and intellectual property assets of CHEF’S Catalog, including brands, trademarks and domain names. In January CHEFS’ sent an email to its shoppers saying goodbye after 36 years.

Women’s apparel retailer Joyce Leslie is calling it a day.

The company announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Court for a sale of its intellectual property and retail store leases, along with the lease of its corporate office and distribution center.

Tractor Supply Company continues its rapid expansion, with the grand opening of its 1,500th store, on Feb. 13, in Odessa, Texas.

The retailer opened a total of 114 stores in 2015, and expects to open between 115 and 120 locations in 2016. Tractor Supply stores are located primarily in towns outlying major metropolitan markets and in rural communities.

Staples secured approval of its acquisition of Office Depot from European regulators after agreeing to numerous concessions. Now similar actions may be required if the company is to win over a stubborn U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Staples said it received approval from the European Union to acquire Office Depot, highlighted a range of actions it took to alleviate the regulator’s competitive concerns and used the action to take a jab at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Surpassing $3 billion in annual sales last year was a big deal for Skechers and now CEO Robert Greenberg is banking on the addition of more than 300 new stores to help the company set another sales record in 2016.

Skechers plans to open between 330 and 340 stores this year, projecting it will have a year-end total of 1,650 locations, of which 575 will be company owned. The accelerated pace of expansion is easy to understand given the powerful contribution the company’s physical footprint had on its fourth quarter and full year sales and profit performance.

Shannon Greene, CFO of Tandy Leather Factory, was named interim CEO of the Fort Worth-based operator of more than 100 stores after CEO Jon Thompson resigned after more than two decades with the company.

Fourth quarter sales at CVS Health surged 11% to $41.1 billion, enabling the operator of nearly 10,000 stores to surpass a significant annual sales milestone.

The company opened 53 new retail stores and acquired 1,672 pharmacies from Target to end the year with 9,655 retail stores, including pharmacies in Target stores, and annual sales of $153.3 billion, an increase of 10%.