Financial News

NEW YORK — The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index rose to more than 4% during the month of February, thanks to slight improvements in two sectors.

The index attempts to track consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending and is comprised of four components: unemployment claims, tax burden, real wages and real home prices. It rose to 4.02% from 3.92% in January.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Midwest retailer announced it would invest $75 million in a major remodel project that would benefit stores in two states.

Meijer said 10 stores in Michigan and Ohio would benefit from the initiative. The retailer projected that the remodeling program would be completed by the end of the year.

FOSTER CITY, Calif. — Drug maker Gilead acknowledged the receipt of an unsolicited mini-tender offer by TRC Capital.

Gilead said that TRC seeks to purchase up to 3 million shares of the company at a price of $37.25 per share, or about $111.75 million. The drug maker said it is recommending shareholders reject the bid, stating that the offer is priced below the current market price for Gilead shares and is subject to numerous conditions. As of March 2, TRC's offer price represented approximately a 4.56% discount to the $39.03 closing price of Gilead common stock.

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Family Dollar reported Monday a comparable-store sales increase of 5.1% for the second quarter ended Feb. 26. Net sales for the quarter increased 8.3% to $2.26 billion, from $2.09 billion last year. According to the retailer, warmer weather earlier in the year, as well as strong performance in its consumables and seasonal categories, helped drive sales.

BOSTON — The confectioner behind Sweethearts candies is no longer for sale, according to published reports.

The New England Confectionary Co., also known as Necco, announced that it tapped New York-based investment firm Sawaya Segalas this past November to help the former explore the possible sale. Now, the company has suspended its plans, according the Boston Herald.

In November 2010, Necco COO Dave Smith said the company was "confident that [it] will be recognized for the value it can bring the right partner."

ELMSFORD, N.Y. — Specialty pharmacy provider BioScrip had sales of $450.4 million in fourth quarter 2010 and $1.6 billion for the year as a whole, according to financial results released Friday.

Sales for the quarter were $108.8 million higher than in fourth quarter 2009, while sales for the fiscal year were $300 million higher than in fiscal year 2009. However, the company still had net losses of $67.1 million for the quarter and $69.1 million for the year.

WASHINGTON — U.S. retail sales rose 1% in February to $387.1 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday.

This marks the biggest sales gain in four months, the government agency said, with sales also being 8.9% above the year-ago period. Digging deeper, grocery store sales saw a 0.5% gain from January and rose to nearly $41.8 million, while health and personal care stores experienced a 0.3% decline from last month, dropping to $21.4 million.

CITY OF COMMERCE, Calif. — First it was Family Dollar; now 99 Cents Only Stores finds itself in buyout talks, as investors are seeing the value in discount store chains.