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Weak dollar, strong sales for H&M

Hennis & Mauritz’s expenses are mostly in dollars, so the currency’s recent weakness contributed to a 29 percent first-quarter jump in Swedish clothing chain profits, to $211 million. The quarter’s sales rose 7.3 percent to $1.77 billion. The Stockholm-based chain says its second quarter is off to a strong start too, with a 20 percent sales increase posted for March. H&M announced plans to open 61 stores during the second quarter, including 12 in Germany, six in Poland, six in Spain and five in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the chain says, it will close five shops. H&M says it is on track toward this year’s goal of opening about 155 units and closing 12.

Madison Avenue landmark sold

In one of the year’s most expensive triple-net lease transactions, the former Rhinelander mansion on Madison Avenue in New York City sold for close to $80 million, or about $2,858 per square foot, according to published reports. Polo Ralph Lauren has occupied the five-level, 2,800-square-foot historic landmark for more than 20 years. The buyer is an Irish investor group called Sloan Capital, and the seller is Atlanta-based TMW Property Funds USA, an arm of Prudential Financial. TMW bought the building for $36 million in 1997.

The deal's sky-high price reflects the importance of the building, which sits in Manhattan's toniest luxury shopping district, as a brand statement for a retailer. “It won't offer the new owners much of a return in the short-run but it's a trophy property,” said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman's retail leasing and sales division. “It's like buying the biggest billboard in Times Square.”

Wal-Mart to aid wildlife with $38 million

In what observers call an effort to mend fences with environmental groups and other critics, Wal-Mart Stores said it would spend $35 million toward conservation of wildlife habitats over the next 10 years. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer is working in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Wal-Mart says it will permanently conserve at least one acre of wildlife habitat for every developed acre in its existing portfolio of stores, a total of about 138,000 acres (roughly the size of Manhattan island). The chain will do the same for every acre it develops in the future, it says. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will choose the projects to receive funding. Wildlife refuges in Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine and Oregon will be the first to benefit from the program, which has been dubbed Acres for America.

Jordan gets a Hardee’s

Carpinteria, Calif.-based CKE Restaurants and the Kuwait-based Americana Group opened a Hardee’s fast-food restaurant in Amman, Jordan, their first there. Like its American cousins, this Hardee’s has a drive-through window and a children’s play area. The two companies have jointly opened more than 130 restaurants in the Middle East. Americana says it plans to open eight more Hardee’s units in Jordan over the next five years. CKE, whose holdings include the Carl’s Jr. concept, operates about 200 stores in Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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