Aeropostale

Atlanta -- CBL & Associates Properties and Horizon Group Properties announced that their jointly owned Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta will open one month earlier than previously announced – or on July 18, 2013.

Located in the North Atlanta suburb of Woodstock, Ga., the 370,000-sq.-ft. initial phase of the center will feature such designer outlet names as Nike, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH, Bose, Brooks Brothers, Columbia Sportswear, Cole Haan, White House|Black Market, Guess, Fossil, Michael Kors, Under Armour, and Talbots.  

Westlake Village, Calif. -- LLBean.com ranks highest among online apparel retailers with a score of 830 (on a 1,000-point scale), followed by LandsEnd.com (829) and Forever21.com (824), according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Online Apparel Retailer Satisfaction Report. The study finds that satisfaction with online apparel retailers is significantly lower among online shoppers between the ages of 18 and 24 than among those 55 years of age and older.

New York -- Aeropostale announced Wednesday it has acquired online women's fashion footwear and apparel retailer GoJane.com, based in Ontario, Calif.

The purchase of GoJane.com, which generated sales of about $19 million in 2011, is intended to beef up Aeropostale’s already growing e-commerce business.

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. — The Wet Seal has named four new members to its board of directors and Lynda Davey as chairman of the board.

The new members, who joined effective Oct. 4, include: Dorrit Bern, Lynda Davey, Mindy Meads and John Mills.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only person in the industry to raise an eyebrow when the S&P Retail Index notched an all-time high last month. Closing at $669.26 on September 14th to reach that milestone, the index has continued to creep up even further the last couple of weeks. A closer look at the stock market performance of the retail sector shows that both REITs and many individual retailers are continuing a strong positive trend—which makes sense, of course, because REITs will perform better in a strong retail environment when retailers are doing well.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. -- On the heels of activist investor The Clinton Group’s announced plans to replace some of Wet Seal’s board members, the retailer is advising its shareholders against supporting the move.

Foothill Ranch, Colo. -- The Clinton Group Inc., a 7% shareholder in Wet Seal, made a formal request on Monday to replace most of the retailer’s current board of directors.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. -- As part of its push toward forcing Wet Seal to put itself up for sale, investor Clinton Group on Thursday named its own slate of board candidates to replace the existing members.

Clinton’s candidates include former United Retail Group chief Raphael Benaroya, former chairman and CEO of Charming Shoppes Dorrit Bern, former Aeropostale co-CEO Mindy Meads, former Aeropostale COO John Mills, and investment banker Lynda Davey.

NEW YORK — Aeropostale, a mall-based specialty retailer of casual and active apparel for young women and men, announced that Emilia Fabricant will be joining the company as EVP of the Aeropostale brand. Fabricant will be responsible for all aspects of design, merchandising and production for the brand, and will report to Thomas Johnson, CEO.

New York -- Aeropostale announced that Emilia Fabricant will join the company as executive VP of the Aeropostale brand. She will be responsible for all aspects of design, merchandising and production for the brand.

On Aug. 17, Fabricant resigned as president of Bebe Stores, Prior to then, she served as president and chief merchandising officer of Charlotte Russe.