Labor & Employment

An increase in selling, general & administrative (SG&A) expenses helped increase net loss at New York & Company Inc. to $9.7 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, up from $3.4 million a year earlier.

Net sales declined 3% to $210.6 million from $217.3 million, and same-store sales dropped 3.4%. New York & Co. cited soft performance in its wear-to-work category and the impact of product delays resulting from West Coast port labor issues as negatively impacting sales.

Kmart eked out a positive third quarter same store sales increase, but parent company Sears Holdings still reported a $548 million loss while CEO Edward Lampert claimed customers are responding to transformation efforts.

New York - The City Council of Chiago has approved a boost in the minimum wage, gradually raising it to $13 an hour by 2019. The vote was pushed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel faces a reelection vote in February.

The plan raises Illinois' $8.25 rate – which is $1 higher than the federal rate – in small increments. It will get raised to $10 next year, and then increase by amounts of of 50 cents and $1. City officials estimate more than 400,000 Chicago workers will benefit.

Fort Wayne, Ind. - Vera Bradley has hired industry veteran-and former Saks executive— Harry Cunningham as head of store development, effective December 8, 2014.

Cunningham has nearly 25 years of experience in store design and visual  merchandising. He has been with Saks Fifth Avenue since 2006, most recently as senior VP of store planning, design and visual merchandising.

Prior to that, he held various visual merchandising roles of increasing responsibility with Liz Claiborne, Saks Department Store Group and Dillard's.

Houston - JLL has appointed Naveen Jaggi as president of JLL Americas Retail Brokerage. Jaggi comes to JLL from CBRE, where he was a senior managing director of Retail Services.

In his new role at JLL, Jaggi will oversee more than 100 brokers, spanning 25 major markets, who serve the firm’s 500 retail owner and occupier clients. Jaggi is also tasked with creating deeper integration, collaboration and consistency across the Americas retail platform and globally.

In an effort to bolster its online presence, Loehmann’s has appointed a digital retail expert to join its advisory board. Tony D'Annibale, president of Jessica's Brands, will work with the board and the management team during the Loehmann’s re-launch as an online retailer.