Kohl's, Inc.

New York -- Sycamore Partners announced that it has reorganized its Nine West Footwear Group into four separate businesses, each with its own leadership team. The top leadership has changed as well, as the company announced Nine West Footwear Group CEO Kathy Nedorostek has stepped down. She will be replaced in the interim by Andrew Hede, a turnaround specialist and managing director with Alvarez & Marsal in New York.

Kohl’s and AwesomenessTV have teamed up to launch S.o. R.a.d., a seven capsule limited-edition junior’s fashion line and Life’s S.o. R.a.d., an original four season YouTube series featuring top teen influencers.

The first S.o. R.a.d. junior’s capsule will launch at Kohl’s and Kohls.com Sept. 22.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. - Kohl’s Department Stores and multiplatform media company AwesomenessTV have launched a partnership to launch S.o. R.a.d., a seven capsule limited-edition junior’s fashion line and “Life’s S.o. R.a.d.,” an original four-season YouTube series featuring top teen influencers. The first S.o. R.a.d. junior’s capsule will launch at Kohl’s and Kohls.com on Sept. 22.

Birmingham, Ala. -- Books-A-Million appointed James Phelps as VP e-commerce. For nearly 15 years, Phelps has been a leader in e-commerce, serving with retailers including HSN, Kohl’s Department Stores, and Brookstone.

Leading U.S. bookstore chain and online bookseller Books-A-Million has named James Phelps as VP of e-commerce.

“We are pleased to welcome James to Books-A-Million, and look forward to him bringing his expertise to our team as we continue to build our digital business,” said Cy Fenton, Books-A-Million’s CIO and president of Booksamillion.com.

Retail organizations may not typically seek the services of a “marriage counselor,” but for retailers looking to implement innovative and disruptive technologies, global startup investor and accelerator Plug and Play Tech Center can help find the perfect partner.

“We’re a marriage counselor between retailers and startups,” confirmed Michael Olmstead, director, Plug and Play Retail. “We gain an in-depth understanding of retailers’ pain points.”

Menomonee Falls, Wis. – Kohl’s Corp. had a relatively flat second quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to the same period the previous year. Net income slightly rose to $232 million from $231 million, while sales fell 1% to $4.24 billion from $4.28 billion.

Same-store sales dropped 1.1%, although Kohl’s said they turned positive in July. Kohl’s plans to open four new stores in fall 2014, including one store which was temporarily closed in the first quarter for a complete re-build.

Fort Wayne, Ind. -- Vera Bradley announced that Karen Peters has been named executive VP, retail and wholesale sales.

Peters has 25 years of retail experience including multi-store management and merchandising. Between February 2005 and March 2014, she served as senior VP, director of stores for Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th. Prior to that, she held key management positions with Sears, Target, and Kohl's.