News

New York -- A controversial bill requiring Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other large retailers to pay their employees a "living wage" of at least $12.50 an hour has been sent to District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray.   
    
The mayor has 10 business days, starting Tuesday, to either sign or veto the bill, which was passed by the D.C. Council at the beginning of July.

New York -- Yankee Candle has agreed to be acquired by global consumer products company Jarden Corp. for $1.75 billion in cash from its private equity owner Madison Dearborn Partners. Yankee Candle, based in South Deerfield, Mass., operates about 575 stores in the United States and Canada.

Madison Dearborn bought Yankee Candle in 2007 for $1.4 billion cash and the assumption of $300 million in debt.

Brisbane, Calif. -- Bebe Stores Inc. reported a loss for its fourth quarter amid weaker sales and markdowns.

The apparel chain posted a loss of $20.8 million for the three-month period ended July 6, compared with net income of $3 million in the fourth quarter last year.

Bebe's total revenue edged down to $119.2 million, from $131.5 million.

New York -- Hedge fund manager Richard Perry has upped his already substantial share in J.C. Penney Co. Perry’s Perry Capitol LLC now ranks as Penney's second-largest investor after George Soros.
    
It was disclosed on Friday that Perry bought an additional three million shares of Penney in a secondary offering for $12.90 a share, and that it now owns 8.62% of the company, up from its previous 7.3% stake.
      

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc.’s second-quarter net income dropped to $9.1 million, down from $21.1 million a year earlier, on expenses associated with its spinoff from Sears Holdings Corp. The company also announced that its board approved a $25 million buyback.

Revenue increased 2% to $656.9 million from $644.5 million. Same-store sales rose 1.4%, with an 8.2% increase for the chain’s outlet segment.

Brinker International chairman Doug Brooks and First Horizon National Corp. CEO Bryan Jordan were elected to the AutoZone board of directors.

The addition of Brooks and Jordan give AutoZone a total of 11 board members. The company is due to report fourth quarter financial results on September 25.

Big Lots overcame a 2.2% same store sales decline at its U.S. stores to post better than expected second quarter earnings, but indicated full year profits could be below the prior year.

Jeff Zoss and Scott Simerlein have joined The Grocery Shopping Network, Inc., a provider of digital shopper planning and marketing tools for grocery retailers, consumer packaged goods companies and shoppers.

The creators of eMobile POS and device manufacturer Cherry have teamed up to create a mobile POS product for the iPhone and iPod Touch that will be sold at Costco.com, according to the firms.

Internet services company Rakuten has acquired the global video streaming platform known as Viki as it looks to advance its digital content offerings and extend Internet services to new markets.