News

Charles W. H. Matthaei, chairman at Roman Meal Company, died Feb. 26. Matthaei headed the family-owned company for nearly 70 years.

Bi-Lo Holdings, parent company of the Bi-Lo and Winn-Dixie supermarket chains, plans to convert seven existing Harveys stores to Winn-Dixie stores and three existing Winn-Dixie stores to Harveys stores.

The stores are part of the pending acquisition of 134 operating stores from Delhaize Group.

New York -- Private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management has reached a preliminary agreement to buy Safeway Inc. for over $9 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal is subject to board approval.

As part of the deal, Cerberus would pay roughly $40 a share for Safeway.

The Kroger Co., which recently completed its acquisition of Harris Teeter, reportedly was also interested in making a bid for Safeway. Even if a deal is announced between Cerberus and Safeway, Kroger could still mount a bid.

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.

York, Pa. - The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. has signed a lease with Duke Realty Corp for a 743,000-sq.-ft., automated, direct-to-consumer fulfillment center in West Jefferson, Ohio, to support its growing e-commerce operations. The company anticipates the facility to be fully operational and ship its first orders in spring of 2015.

Irvine, Calif. -- Auction.com,  the world’s largest online real estate marketplace, has received a $50 million investment from Google Capital. As part of the investment, one representative from Google Capital will join the company’s board of directors and another will take a board observer position.

New York – Following a bitterly cold and stormy January that left many retailers with disappointing monthly sales figures, February’s sales results were generally s bit more encouraging. Chain store sales posted a gain of 2.7% for the fiscal month of February on a year-over-year basis, according to a tally of comparable-store sales compiled by the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Denton, Texas – Sally Beauty Holdings Inc., which sells cosmetics and hair care products both through salons and its own chain of more than 3,000 retail Sally Beauty Supply stores globally, is reporting that it discovered an attempted data breach.

Secaucus, N.J. -- The Children’s Place Retail Stores Thursday reported lower profit for the fourth-quarter amid intense promotions and severe storms. The retailer also said it is renaming the company.

Net earnings in the fourth quarter, ended Feb.1, fell 18% to $15.7 million, from $19.1 million in the year-ago period, which had an extra week.

Net sales in the quarter totaled $467.5 million, down from $509.2 million in the year-ago period. Same-store sales declined 4.3%.

Houston – Stage Stores' fiscal fourth-quarter net income plunged 30%, stung by a charge tied to the sale of its Steele's off-price division and softer revenue. Its adjusted earnings, however, topped analysts' estimates.

Stage Stores announced that it is selling its off-price retail division Steele's to Hilco Global Retail Group in an equity deal.

For the quarter ended Feb. 1, Stage Stores earned $24.9 million, down from $35.8 million in the year-ago period.