Corporate Governance

Gurnee, Ill. -- Construction has begun on a 140,000-sq.-ft. full-line Macy’s that will anchor a new full-price wing at Gurnee Mills, in Gurnee, Ill.

With the addition of the department store, which is expected to open in late summer 2013, Gurnee Mills said it will be distinguished as the first hybrid shopping destination of its kind, combining full-price, outlet and value retail all under one roof.

London -- The British department store Selfridges received the “Best Department Store in the World” award at the Global Department Store Summit in Paris.

Selfridges took the top slot amongst finalists from around the globe, including Macy's and Woolworths (South Africa). The U.K. retailer also won the award, which is given out every two years, in 2010.

New York -- Liz Claiborne Inc. said Tuesday that it has officially changed its name to Fifth & Pacific Cos., following an initial announcement in January that it would do so.

The company sold the Liz Claiborne and Monet brands to J.C. Penney Co. in November, freeing it up to concentrate more fully on its Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand and Kate Spade labels.

New York -- Walmart plans to install solar panels on about half of its stores in Massachusetts, making it the largest user of solar power in the state.

Walmart is partnering with Greenskies Renewable Energy LLC, Middletown, Conn., on the project, which involves 27 stores.

Austin, Texas -- Golfsmith reported Tuesday that it posted a loss of $3.6 million in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $3.1 million in the year-ago period.

Sales improved 11% to $90.5 million for the quarter. Same-store sales grew 8.5%.

Chicago -- Galleria Retail Technology Solutions said Tuesday that Lithuanian retailer Maxima Grupe will use a range of Galleria solutions to automate and optimize its merchandising strategy.

Maxima plans to implement Intelligent Store Optimization, Behavioural Cluster Planning, Customer Centric Merchandising and Galleria Foundation Services in more than 400 stores across Eastern Europe, according to Edvinas Volkas, chief food purchaser at Maxima group.

Dallas -- J. C. Penney Co. on Tuesday reported a loss of $163 million, or 75 cents a share, for its fiscal quarter ended April 28, 2012, compared with a year-earlier profit of $64 million.

Excluding markdowns to reduce inventory levels, restructuring costs and pension-plan expenses, the loss was $55 million or $0.25 per share, compared with a year-earlier profit of 36 cents.

As part of Chain Store Age’s lead-up coverage to RECon 2012, to be held May 20-23 in Las Vegas, we talked with customer analytics firm Buxton’s Charles Wetzel about what his expectations are for the big real estate show. Visit Buxton’s booth 701 in the North Hall Marketplace area of RECon.

This is not your father’s (or my father’s) RECon. True, the conference wasn’t called that back then, but it is clear to me that this influential annual event is evolving. I see three relatively new RECon trends/developments that I think are significant beyond the conference itself; indicating bigger-picture changes within the broader retail real estate industry:

Stronger international presence

New York -- General economic conditions, U.S. and foreign supplier vendor concerns, and competition/consolidation are the top three risk factors cited by retailers, according to a new study by BDO USA, LLP, a leading accounting and consulting firm. Rounding out the top five: federal, state and local regulations, and terrorism, natural disasters and geo-political events.