A South African chain’s shareholders have overwhelmingly accepted Wal-Mart’s offer to buy 51 percent of their company, the chief executive said Monday, paving the way for the giant U.S.-based retailer to enter Africa.
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Sears passes on bid for J. Crew
From Bloomberg News | Sears Holdings Corp. opted not to rival a $3 billion bid for clother J. Crew Group Inc. from TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP, said two people familiar with the matter. Get the full story>>
2010 retail sales post biggest gains in a decade
Sales at U.S. retailers rose slightly less than expected in December, but retail sales for all of 2010 reversed two years of contraction and posted the biggest gain in more than a decade, a government report showed on Friday. Get the full story »
Groupon meets with bankers to explore IPO
Groupon’s executives held a series of meetings with bankers Thursday in Chicago to discuss a potential initial public offering for the coupon website, CNBC’s Kate Kelly reported Thursday evening. Groupon, Kelly said, is serious about an IPO, but the process could take months, possibly into this spring. The offering could be worth $1 billion to $1.5 billion, she said, but the company hasn’t offered any details of the potential size of the deal. Get the full story »
Walgreens to expand fresh food offerings at stores
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley tours a Walgreens store at 1533 67th Place in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Walgreen Co. plans to expand its fresh food offerings in several hundred stores in coming years, company chief executive officer Greg Wasson told shareholders this afternoon.
Addressing 2,500 shareholders at the company’s annual meeting at Navy Pier on Chicago’s lakefront, Wasson said such stores fit the company’s strategy to evolve from a “retail drugstore to a retail ‘health and daily living store.’”
Walgreen Co., which offers more and more health and wellness needs, began to test out fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables last year, particularly in poor urban markets where access to healthy food choices is a problem. Get the full story »
Kardashians to launch clothing line at Sears
The Kardashian sisters are launching a line of clothing at Sears as the moderate department store chain continues to revamp its women’s apparel business.
The clothing line, called the Kardashian Kollection, is set to arrive in August at 400 Sears stores nationwide. The brand is exclusive to Sears, Roebuck and Co., a unit of Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp. Get the full story »
Jan. 12 at 1:49 p.m.
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Filed under: Economy, Government, Housing, Jobs/employment, Manufacturing, Real estate, Retail Beige Book shows economy still growing modestly
Economic growth continued to expand moderately the last few weeks, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.
In its latest snapshot of regional economic conditions, the Fed reported that manufacturing, retail and non-financial services sectors were strong in most regions. Get the full story »
Northwestern grads launch coupon site Bare Deal
A pair of Northwestern University graduates has launched a Chicago-based online deal company that merges snail mail and the Web.
Bare Deal, founded by Justin Shapiro and Glen Andrianov, launched Wednesday in Chicago and the site lists 12 additional cities where the company plans to expand, including Los Angeles and New York.
Chicago is home to tens of Web companies offering local daily deals, including Groupon, the pioneer of the space. Groupon’s co-founder, Andrew Mason, is also a Northwestern alumnus. Shapiro and Andrianov graduated in 2008. Get the full story »
Sears shares gain on strong 4Q projections
Sears' flagship store on State Street in Chicago. (PRNewsFoto/Sears Holdings Corporation)
Sears Holdings Corp. projected fourth-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ expectations because of a lower tax rate, sending shares of the retailer higher.
However, the company also reported its domestic same-store sales declined during December due to continued weakness at its U.S. Sears stores, particularly in consumer electronics.
The retailer has struggled as it continues losing business to rivals and worries remain that consumers are keeping a tight grip on their wallets amid economic uncertainty and high unemployment. Get the full story »
Walgreen aims to fill more 90-day prescriptions
Walgreen Co. wants more customers to fill 90-day prescriptions in its stores, a move it says will make it easier for patients to stick to their drug regimens and save millions of dollars in healthcare costs. Get the full story »
Kmart trying out financial centers in Illinois
Twenty-three Kmart stores in Illinois and three other markets are testing financial centers where shoppers can cash checks, pay bills, place money orders and transfer money.
“We’re looking at how to better utilize the real estate in our stores and to better serve our customers,” Kmart spokeswoman Shannelle Armstrong said.
Kmart’s pilot financial centers are staffed by company employees, she said. But Armstrong declined to comment on whether a bigger rollout is planned, or what the retailer has learned so far from its test. Get the full story »
Sears expects earnings to top Street
Sears Holdings Corp. expects its fourth-quarter and full-year adjusted earnings to top Wall Street’s expectations.
The results would be welcomed at the struggling retailer, which saw its third-quarter loss nearly double in part because of weak appliance and clothing sales at its namesake stores. Its shares rose $3.40, or 4.8 percent, to $74 in pre-market trading. Get the full story »
Holiday sales rise 4%, first uptick in two years
Retail sales rose a solid 4 percent for the 2010 holiday shopping season, marking the first uptick in two years, according to a report released Monday from ShopperTrak.
The sales gain for the combined months of November and December 2010, compared to the same period in 2009, occurred even as customer traffic remained flat, the firm said. The results suggest that consumers are making fewer visits to malls and individual stores, but spending more once they get there, said Bill Martin, co-founder of the Chicago-based customer research firm.
While overall shopping levels haven’t returned to a pre-recession pace, the 2010 holiday season “should be seen as a relatively encouraging sign for retailers heading into 2011,” Martin said. Get the full story »
Teen retailer Five Below plans Chicago-area stores
From the Chicago Sun-Times | Philadelphia-based retailer Five Below, which sells everything for $5 or less, has signed leases for 10 locations in the Chicago area with openings planned in the spring. The chain, which calls itself a “five-and-dime for the Facebook generation,” sells merchandise geared to teenagers and pre-teens, with an emphasis on combining the cheap with the trendy. Get the full story »
Sources: Borders talking with restructuring advisers
Bookseller Borders Group has hired FTI, a firm known for its restructuring practice, to assist in analyzing its finances, according to sources familiar with the situation. Get the full story »
