All posts by Peter Jefferson

About Peter Jefferson

Peter Jefferson is a full-time researcher for www.businessdistrict.com, a task he took on in 2011 when the site was launched. He brings to the position a wealth of practical experience in the field of fiscal policy, having consulted with various government bodies on revenue collection, expenditure and economic growth. Contact Peter at peter[at]businessdistrict.com

Kohl’s Corp. Ranks Among Top Ten in Customer Service

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Kohl’s Department Stores has been selected among the top ten retailers as far as customer service is concerned. In a survey sponsored by National Retail Federation and American Express, 9374 people were surveyed by the Bigresearch consumer research company. Kohl’s Department stores rated in the top ten together with Amazon, Lands’ End, L.L.Bean, Zappos, QVC, Overstock.com, JCPenney, Nordstom and Newegg.

Kohl’s Corp. (KSS) is a department store chain for middle income cusomers. The company sells its own private brands and also national brands of clothing, shoes, and home products. The company has 1127 stores in 49 states and also has a very nice internet store.

Financially the company is doing well. In 2010, it was number 135 in the fortune 500 and is listed in the S&P 500 stock index. In 2008, Kohl’s was the 24th largest retailer in America as far as revenue was concerned.

Kohl’s management is good as reflected in its return on assets of 9.41% and its return on equity of 16.03%. Its net income to common stock for 2010 was $1.2 billion.  It has a market capitalization of $14.61 billion. In other words the company is strong.

Some main managers at Kohl’s are John M. Worthington, Donald A. Brennan, Kevin Mansell, and Brian Tadlock.

Target Corp Is Right on Target

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Target Corp. is the second largest discount retailer in America, second only to Walmart. Target is number 33 in the Fortune 500 and is one of the Standard and Poor’s 500 index stocks.

This retail chain has almost 110 years of retail experience and asset acquisition. Today, the chain has over 1,490 stores. In addition, it has purchased leaseholds for Canadian stores and expects to open 100 to 150 stores in Canada by 2014.

What is interesting about Target is how they have organized their business into subsidiaries. They have:

A subsidiary for retail and financial services. It has a bank for business, issues credit cards, debit card, check cards and gift cards.

A subsidiary for purchasing merchandise from around the world for Target. The company deals with quality control, buying and shipping issues.

A subsidiary dealing with Target Corporation’s store brands. There are over 800 products in 40 product categories that carry private brands.

A subsidiary to manage and perform all of Target’s e-commerce activities.

Each company is focused on its own particular niche of making Target Corporation work smoothly.  Each subsidiary is accountable and management is able to focus on its own individual mission without getting lost in this huge corporation.

Some of the managers and officers at Target are: Stacia Andersen, Carmela Batacchi, Jane  Windmeier,  Jodeen A. Kozlak, Tina M. Schiel, Kathryn A. Tesija, Laysha L. Ward,  Douglas A. Scovanner and Janna Adair-Potts.

Chinese Based Companies Gaining in US Investment Stature

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Well managed China-based companies offer U.S. investors excellent propositions. This theory was recently put to the test with Harbin Electric, Inc. Based in China, Harbin Electric, Inc first became a U.S. listed public company through a reverse merger in 2005. At that time it was priced at $2 a share.

Recently, Harbin Electric Inc. underwent a successful US$800 million merger acquisition with Tech Full Electric at US$24 per share. Lucky public shareholders of Harbin Electric Inc. were paid US$24 per share in cash.

This makes this transaction the largest “going private” transaction for China-based companies in the U.S. for the 2011 year. Advisors for this acquisition included Morgan Stanley and Lazard Freres, as well as law firms Skadden Arps, Davis Polk and others.

James N. Baxter said about the transaction, “We are proud of our role in Harbin’s success story. Our corporate finance and due diligence team in New York and Beijing initially identified Harbin as an outstanding China-based business worthy of entering the U.S. capital markets. As one of our portfolio companies, we are pleased with the extraordinary investor returns Harbin has generated for its U.S. public shareholders.”

 

Arthur Levinson Named New Apple Chairman

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Until now the co-director of the board at Apple Inc, Arthur Levinson will take over the chairmanship in the wake of the death of the former CEO, Steve Jobs.

Apple also chose Bob Iger, CEO of Disney and former close friend of Jobs to a seat on the board.

“Art has made enormous contributions to Apple since he joined the board in 2000,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a prepared statement. “Bob and I have gotten to know one another very well over the past few years and on behalf of the entire board, we think he is going to make an extraordinary addition.”

Levinson has been a member of the board at Apple since 2005, making him the longest-serving director. He is also the chairman of the board at Genentech, the biotech drum company, and a board member at Roche Pharmaceuticals. Until 2009 when Levinson stepped down, he was the CEO at Genentech for 14 years.

“Apple is always focused on out-innovating itself through the delivery of truly innovative products that simplify and improve our lives, and that is something I am very proud to be a part of,” Levinson said Tuesday in a statement.

Wal-Mart Is Ready For Holiday Shopping

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In the third quarter, Wal-Mart posted profits of $3.34 billion equaling $0.97 per share.  This has been Wal-Mart’s first profitable quarter in the last 2 years. According to Wal-Mart’s CEO, Michael Duke, the new sales momentum has positioned Wal-Mart very well for the upcoming holiday shopping system.

Bill Simon, the manger of Wal-Mart’s US Business segment, attributed the improved sales to three factors. “Our focus on expanded assortment, product innovation and local relevance has improved merchandise offerings throughout the store and customers have responded.” Many of Wal-Mart’s customers are in the low income brackets are very tight on money. Wal-Mart is helping them with price match programs.

According to Mike Duke, the CEO, “Every Business segment [of Wal-Mart] is stronger today than it was a year ago.” Today, the company has over 8,500 stores, under 55 brand names, located in 15 countries. It is the world’s 18th largest corporation and the world largest employer with more than 2 million employees.

Managers at Wal-Mart include: Ed Kolodzieski, Anshu Bhardwaj, Micaiah Wallace,  Steven P. Whaley, Stephen F. Quinn, Wan Ling Martello