Most U.S. retail chains today reported strong comparable store sales for August, led by robust back-to-school shopping.
Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Corp. saws its August comparable store sales rise 4.5 percent from the same month a year ago.
Kevin Mansell, Kohl's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, "Our August results were slightly better than planned. All regions and all lines of business reported positive comparable store sales for the month. The Southeast region continued its strong year-to-date trends with low double-digit comp increases. From a line-of-business perspective, the home business reported the strongest comparable store sales for the month. Men’s and footwear also outperformed the company average."
Other key retailers’ comparable store sales for August included: Limited Brands Inc., up 10.0 percent; Nordstrom Inc., up 6.3 percent; Abercrombie & Fitch, up 6.0 percent; Macy’s Inc., up 4.3 percent; J.C. Penney Co. Inc., up 2.3 percent; Target Corp., up 1.8 percent; American Eagle Outfitters, up 1.0 percent; Aeropostale Inc., down 1.0 percent; and Bon-Ton Stores Inc., down 4.6 percent.
"August sales were in line with expectations," said Milwaukee native Gregg Steinhafel, who is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Target Corp. "We're pleased with our strong performance in back-to-school and back-to-college categories, as well as our performance in apparel and food. Guest traffic trends remained healthy throughout the month. These results demonstrate the resilience of our strategy and our ability to deliver on both sides of our 'Expect More. Pay Less' brand promise."

Regal Beloit Corp. has acquired Rotor B.V., which is headquartered in Eibergen, the Netherlands.
Rotor sells standard and special electric motors to a variety of industries including the marine industry, ship building and offshore oil and gas. In addition to the Netherlands, Rotor also sells throughout Europe and Japan. The management of Rotor will continue to lead the company following the acquisition.
For the remainder of 2010, the business is expected to add approximately $10 million to sales for Regal Beloit.
Henry Knueppel, chairman and chief executive officer of Regal Beloit, said, "We are very excited to announce the acquisition of Rotor. The company has an outstanding management team that has grown the business in Europe and beyond. The addition of Rotor strengthens our European commercial position and adds vertical market segment strengths. The Rotor addition represents continued progress on our strategy of geographic and market segment diversification."
Herbert Weekhout and Mario Pistone, managing directors and owners of Rotor stated, "We are excited to join Regal Beloit and are confident that, following this acquisition, we will become an even stronger company, benefiting our customers and stakeholders."

La Macchia Enterprises, the Milwaukee-based parent company of The Mark Travel Corp., has become a strategic investor in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Next One Interactive Inc.
Under the terms of the agreement, William La Macchia, chairman and founder of La Macchia Enterprises, will join the NXOI board of directors and assume a leadership role in the company's direction within the travel arena. The partnership also includes access to La Macchia Enterprises' significant industry reach, travel booking solutions and advertising opportunities with key suppliers.
La Macchia has invested in NXOI by way of a private placement. Additionally, The Mark Travel Corp. has made a line of credit available to NXOI, which will be convertible into common stock at $1 per share over the next three years.
"The strategic investment and partnership with La Macchia Enterprises is a perfect fit for Next One Interactive, because Mark Travel offerings will be integrated across NXOI media and drive incremental revenues. Our flagship property, R&R TV, is a full-time television network supported by 'video on demand' and enhanced TV applications including broadband and web, focused on vacation travel, real estate and resort ownership with a reach of over 40 million households," said Bill Kerby, CEO and vice chairman of Next One Interactive Inc.

Marquette University Law School will formally dedicate its new building, Ray and Kay Eckstein Hall, during a ceremony Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 2 p.m.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will give the keynote address, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York will bless the building, and Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson will make remarks.  Following the ceremony, guests are invited for tours of the building.
The dedication ceremony will take place outside immediately north of Eckstein Hall, 1215 W. Michigan St.
Eckstein Hall is an $85 million building, made possible by a $51 million gift from Ray and Kay Eckstein, an alumni couple from Cassville, Wis., in May 2007. 
Milwaukee builder and philanthropist Joseph Zilber, also a Marquette Law School alumnus, donated $30 million to Marquette Law School in August 2007, of which $5 million went to the building.
Eckstein Hall features a “library without borders,” which seamlessly integrates the law library on all four floors of the building. It contains cutting-edge broadcast capabilities – enabling satellite feeds into and out of the building for participation in events around the globe.
Eckstein Hall is part of nearly $350 million in new construction and renovations that Marquette has invested in the near west side over the past decade. The Discovery Learning Complex, future home of the Marquette College of Engineering, is currently under construction at 16th Street and Wisconsin Avenue.

The stock market sputtered this morning, as investors shrugged off the news that the number of Americans applying for unemployment insurance benefits fell by 6,000 to 472,000 in the week ended Aug. 28.
The number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance in Wisconsin last week rose slightly to 12,126 after falling in the previous week to 11,962, the first time below 12,000 in nearly two years.
Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remains at 7.8 percent, which is well below the national average of 9.5 percent.
The stock market was mostly flat this morning. Local stocks in the BizTimes Stock Index were led today by Joy Global Inc. (up $1.50 to $61.66) and Bucyrus International Inc. (up $1.02 to $63.07). The largest local decliners this morning were A.O. Smith Corp. (down 85 cents to $53.00) and Wisconsin Energy Corp. (down 52 cents to $56.46).

One of every six Wisconsin banks had a net loss during the second quarter, according to a report by federal regulators, for a combined loss of $111 million as of June 30. But that's better than nearly one of every five banks in the state that ended the 2009 second quarter in the red, with a combined loss of $175 million. Read more in today’s edition of the BizTimes Wisconsin Morning Headlines bulletin.

Long Beach, Calif.-based Molina Healthcare Inc.’s acquisition of West Allis-based Abri Health Plan means an additional 40 to 50 jobs for the Milwaukee area. Read more in the new edition of the Biztimes Bubbler bulletin, which also includes a webcast video of the rooftop rally at St. Marcus Lutheran School in Milwaukee.

The latest volley in Wisconsin’s ongoing debate about high-speed rail is fired by Kay Plantes, a business consultant who formerly served as chief economist for Republican Gov. Lee Dreyfus. Read more in today’s Milwaukee Biz Blog.

Waukesha-based J.B. Kenehan LLC has acquired Beaver Dam-based Conley Printing Company.
The name of the Conley Printing operations will be changed to J.B. Kenehan, but no other significant changes are planned, said John Schueller, chief financial officer for J.B. Kenehan.
No immediate employment changes are planned at Conley, Schueller.said. “We do plan to grow the business,” he said.
Existing Conley Printing customers will continue to have their materials printed, bound and mailed from the 172,000-square-foot Beaver Dam facility, J.B. Kenehan president Tom Majdoch said in a letter to Conley customers and in a news release.
BizTimes Milwaukee magazine is printed by Conley Printing.
“For the past six years, Conley Printing and J.B. Kenehan have been working together utilizing each others’ manufacturing capabilities and technical expertise,” Majdoch said. “That close working relationship allowed us to identify several benefits of bringing the two companies together. This acquisition enhances core competencies of both facilities. The combination of the two companies allows for further growth in the industry and provides an impressive variety of services as well as a vast pool of talent and expertise in printing.”
J.B. Kenehan has an 80,000-square-foot facility in Waukesha.
Schueller declined to disclose financial terms of the acquisition.