Marketing

London – Natalie Massenet, founder and chairman of U.K.-based online luxury retailer Net-a-Porter, unexpectedly resigned from the company just as it looks to become a global powerhouse.

The former fashion journalist is leaving as Net-a-Porter, which she launched in 2000, prepares to be purchased from Swiss parent company Richemont by Italian e-commerce retailer Yoox. The merger will create the world’s largest luxury e-commerce group.

Philadelphia -- Teen and tween fave Five Below Inc. may not be meeting sales projections, but it remains on track for store expansion, with plans to open a total of 70 net new stores during fiscal 2015, including 16 net new stores in the third quarter.

The company, where every item costs no more than $5, is achieving its profitability targets, but doing so with productivity improvement in its selling space that is surprisingly weak given the newness of its store base.

Target Corp. has a new finance chief and executive VP. Cathy Smith officially joined the discounter on Sept. 1, coming from Express Scripts, the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits manager, where she was also CFO.  

A seasoned retail leader, Smith also held CFO positions at Walmart International, GameStop, and others. Target recently posted a Q&A with Smith on its Bullseye blog. Here are some highlights:

What made you decide to take on this role at Target?

A rapidly expanding retailer led by a former top Walmart executive is supposed to produce strong same store sales growth, leverage expenses and increase profits. So why isn’t Five Below?

Joel Anderson’s tenure as CEO of value priced retailer Five Below (where everything cost less than $5) is off to an uneven start. The company is achieving its profitability targets, but doing so with productivity improvement in its selling space that is surprisingly weak given the newness of its store base.

The CEO of Genesco Inc. says the company had strong sales despite the later start to the back-to-school season and some pressures to right-size inventories.

Cedar Hill, Texas -- Trademark Property Co. announced that it has broken ground on its multi-million dollar renovation of Hillside Village, formerly Uptown Village at Cedar Hill, located in Cedar Hill, Texas.

Louisville, Ky. -- A new off-price outlet concept that opened its first store in November 2014 is expanding.

Retail4LESS announced the opening of two new locations in Kentucky — one in Madisonville, and the second in Franklin — with both due to open in the late fall.

The opening of the two new stores will mark the first new stores for the off-price retailer since the launch of its inaugural location last year, in its home base of Louisville.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. reportedly wants to become a place where consumers can go and everybody knows your name.

According to USA Today, Target plans to serve liquor in a store slated to open in Chicago in October 2015.

While a number of Target stores sell packaged alcohol products, this marks the first time Target would also serve liquor for customers to consume inside the store. Target has applied for permits to both sell alcohol for take-home purchase and for in-store consumption for the Chicago store.

New York -- The International Council of Shopping Centers named a 26-year Deloitte veteran as the fourth individual to lead the global trade association in its 58-year history.

Thomas (Tom) McGee, currently vice chairman, Deloitte LLP, was appointed president and CEO of ICSC, effective Sept. 21. He succeeds current ICSC President and CEO, Michael P. Kercheval who announced his retirement earlier this year.

Newcastle, Wash. -- Retail Properties of America announced that it has closed on the off-market acquisition of Coal Creek Marketplace, a 56,000 sq. ft. grocery-anchored center located in Newcastle, Washington for approximately $17.6 million. The center is currently 95% occupied and anchored by Quality Food Centers, a subsidiary of Kroger.