FINANCE

The off-price retailer sector will continue to build momentum and outperform the apparel retail segment during the next five years.   That’s according to a new report, "Off-Price Retailers Continue to Build Momentum on Value Appeal,” by Moody's Investors Service. Off-price retailers are anticipated to experience apparel revenue growth of 6% - 8%, outperforming the broader apparel segment by a collective 4% in the timeframe.  

Bankrupt Aeropostale Inc. may not be going out of business after all.   The teen apparel chain has resolved a dispute with lenders that threatened to sink a potential bid from a unit of Versa Capital Management to buy the chain out of bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported.   Versa would keep about 500 Aeropostale stores open, according to the report. 

Aeropostale is negotiating a potential sale to private equity firm Versa Capital Management LLC, Reuters reported. Versa specializes in distressed investments.      In court papers filed at the end of last week,the retailer said it has been in discussions with Versa regarding a possible stalking horse bid at the chain’s bankruptcy auction later this month. The bid by Versa could include a cash payment for Aéropostale’s inventory, and the assumption of more than 500  

A company relatively unknown outside its home base has entered the U.S. retail market in a deal to acquire Mattress Firm Holding Corp., the largest mattress retailer in the United States.   

Wal-Mart Stores announced it will acquire retail start-up — and would-be Amazon rival — Jet.com for approximately $3 billion in cash. Additionally, $300 million of Walmart shares will be paid over time as part of the transaction.   The deal will go a long way to helping Walmart expand its e-commerce growth and customer reach, and also give it more firing power as it competes with Amazon.  And Jet.com’s popularity with millennials will help the discounter attract a younger, higher-income customer. 

Gap Inc. unveiled preliminary results for the second quarter that were not very promising as Banana Republic continues to bleed.   The retailer said revenue and same-store sales slipped for the month of July, and for the second quarter, which ended July 30.   Gap’s net sales for the quarter were $3.85 billion, compared with $3.90 billion for the second quarter last year.  

Publix’s sales for second quarter 2016 were $8.1 billion, a 2.1% increase from last year’s $8 billion. Comparable-store sales for second quarter 2016 increased 1.1%.    The company says sales were negatively impacted by 1.2% due to the effect of the Easter holiday being in the first quarter in 2016. In 2015, the effect of the Easter holiday was in the second quarter.  

Fred's Inc. saw July sales drop 7% to $154 million, compared to $165.6 million in the same period last year.    Comparable store sales for the month declined 4.6%, compared with an increase of 0.7% in the year-earlier period.   Fred's total sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 decreased 3.4% to $527.7 million, from $546.1 million for the same period last year. On a comparable store basis, second quarter sales decreased 2% versus an increase of 0.9% for the year-earlier period.