News

West Elm opened its 100th store, at Empire Stores, in Brooklyn, New York. It is the first tenant to officially open in the restored 19th-century coffee roasting facility and warehouse.   Located in Brooklyn’s Fulton Ferry Historic District, Empire Stores dates from 1869. Its massive red-brick walls feature distinctive round-arch openings and iron shutters, characteristic features of port warehouses of the period. The home furnishings retailer also has located its corporate headquarters within the building.  

Office Depot has joined Staples in the search for a new chief executive.   Office Depot announced Monday that Roland Smith plans to retire as CEO of the company.  In June, Staples CEO Ron Sargent stepped down and the chain is still looking for a successor. The resignations come several months after the merger between the two retailers was dropped over antitrust concerns.  

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is expanding its U.S. portfolio yet again.   In its biggest acquisition to date, the Canadian convenience store retailer has agreed to buy CST Brands Inc. for $48.53 per share in cash, with the total deal valued at $4.4 billion, including debt.   Couche-Tard operates more than 12,000 locations globally under several brands, including Circle K. Last year, Couche-Tard acquired The Pantry for about $1.7 billion, including debt, adding more than 1,500 stores to its U.S. footprint.

Hillwood and The Howard Hughes Corporation have unveiled plans for a 130-acre, mixed-use development at Circle T Ranch, a master-planned community north of Dallas-Fort Worth. Circle T resides within AllianceTexas, an 18,000-acre tract that has brought 425 companies, 45,000 jobs, and the world’s first industrial airport to the town of Westlake.   

Fred’s on Friday announced that it had promoted its VP pharmacy services, Timothy Liebmann, to the newly created position of COO pharmacy, effective immediately. Liebmann will be succeeding the company’s retiring executive VP pharmacy operations, Rick Chambers.

Marketing in the department store arena may be new for Rich Lennox, but he’s got plenty of retail marketing experience under his belt. The CMO for Toys “R” Us, who also served in the same capacity for Zales Corp., will take the marketing reins of Macy’s Inc., effective Sept. 15.   Lennox, 51, succeeds Martine Reardon, who left Macy’s in May. He will lead a branding and marketing strategy charge across all channels, reporting to president Jeff Gennette.  

Citing costs due to strategic rebuilding initiatives, Tuesday Morning Corp. reported a loss of $3.9 million in the fourth quarter ended June 30; however, revenue edged up to $222.8 million and same-store sales increased 6%.   According to CEO Steve Becker, pre-announced priorities – including real estate, merchandising, marketing, infrastructure and talent – continue to stay at the forefront of the chain’s activities and have positively impacted top-line performance.    

Hibbett Sports reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $6.5 million, beating Wall Street expectations.   The sporting goods retailer posted revenue of $206.9 million in the period, a 3.9% increase but falling short of Street forecasts. Analysts expected $210.1 million.   Same-store sales inched up 0.8%.  

Home Depot's chief merchant Ted Decker pointed to solid performance of core maintenance and repair categories, as well as many pro-focused categories during the second quarter.   So it's no wonder he said the company was "pleased" with its Q2 results.