Saks Fifth Avenue

San Mateo, Calif. -- A pair of veteran retailers were among the most popular store sites on Facebook during the 2014 holiday season. Sears was the most popular U.S. department store, while Walmart.com was the most popular mass merchant store site, according to a study by Searchmetrics.

The Searchmetrics study analyzed the number of weekly Facebook likes, comments and shares for pages from the websites of nine top US department stores and three mass merchant stores during November and December 2014.

Minneapolis -- Shorenstein Properties LLC and Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th announced that Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th has signed a lease for 40,321 sq. ft. in the retail portion of Minneapolis City Center, continuing the fashion retailer’s 25-year presence in downtown Minneapolis. The new store is slated to open April 2016.

“This city has been a strong market for us, and Minneapolis City Center provides us with a vibrant location in which to serve our exceedingly loyal customers,” said Jonathan Greller, president of Outlets, HBC.

The nation’s newest mall in Sarasota, Fla., introduced shoppers to a new app with interesting navigation and personalization capabilities. Now the trick is driving downloads and usage.

Ann Arbor, Mich. - Watch out Amazon, QVC is at your back—at least when it comes to  customer satisfaction.  

Lakewood, Colorado - Colorado Mills, the largest outlet and value retail shopping destination in the state, in conjunction with the full-priced Denver West Village located on the Colorado Mills campus, is introducing a Dine and Discover program, allowing restaurant goers to Colorado Mills or Denver West Village participating eateries to claim gift cards for continued shopping at some of Colorado Mills’ retail store.  

Toronto  - Hudson’s Bay Co. has named Gerald Storch, the former CEO of Toys “R” Us, as its new CEO, effective January 6.  An industry veteran with over 30 years of experience, Storch oversaw the expansion of Toys “R” Us online and international business. Prior to joining the toy giant, he was vice-chairman of  Target Corp., where he founded target.com, and ran the chain’s grocery business.  

Hudson’s Bay Co. has looked to a Toys “R” Us veteran as its pick for its next CEO effective Jan. 5, although current CEO Richard Baker will stay on as governor and executive chairman of the retailing company.

Gerald Storch, an industry veteran with over 30 years of experience, oversaw the expansion of Toys “R” Us online and international business. Prior to joining the toy giant, he was vice chairman of Target Corp., where he founded Target.com, and ran the chain’s grocery business. 

New York - The long delayed American Dream mega-mall and entertainment project at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey,  will open—at least partially— in the fall of 2016 and has signed on such tenants as Victoria’s Secret, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor and Gap and an array of restaurant and entertainment destinations, including a Cirque du Soleil theatre, according to The Record.    

Higher same store sales and its purchase of Saks Inc. last year helped Hudson’s Bay Co. post a smaller quarterly loss in the third quarter.

The company had a $13 million net loss and profits of $116 million, both improvements from the same time last year. Same-store sales rose 1.7% in the third quarter.

Toronto, Canada – Hudson’s Bay Company is launching a new credit card program with Capital One Financial Corp. that includes the Saks Fifth Avenue banner. The agreement is also planned to add the Lord & Taylor credit card program in June 2015, subject to certain closing conditions.