Saks Fifth Avenue

Toronto -- Hudson's Bay Co. (HBC) swung to a profit in its first quarter, boosted by strong sales at Saks Inc., which it acquired last year. Hudson's Bay has announced plans to bring Saks to Canada, starting with two locations in Toronto in 2015.

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.

Vera Bradley has named Karen Peters as EVP, 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 SVP, director of stores for Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th. Prior to that, she held key management positions with Sears, Target and Kohl's.

Hudson's Bay Company more than doubled sales in the first quarter driven primarily by its acquisition of Saks last year.

Retail sales were $1.9 billion, an increase of $971 million from $884 million for the prior year. Consolidated same-store sales increased by 2.8%, with increases of 2.5% at DSG, 2.6% at Saks Fifth Avenue and 15.1% at Off 5th. Digital commerce sales totaled $207 million, reflecting both the inclusion of Hudson's Bay and Lord & Taylor (which together are referred to as “Department Store Group” or DSG) and Saks.

Niagara Falls, N.Y. — Macerich has announced plans to renovate and expand Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA. The project will add nearly 175,000 sq. ft. of retail and bring in 50 new tenants. With approximately 700,000 sq. ft. of top designer brand retailers, the expanded center will be one of the largest outlet malls in the country.

New retailers will include Disney, Forever 21, Helly Hansen, Kenneth Cole, Steve Madden, Swarovski, the Limited, White House|Black Market and others. To date, 77% of the expansion has been leased.

Toronto -- Hudson’s Bay Company named Paul V. Beesley as CFO, effective in June.

Beesley is a senior executive with extensive experience in financial management and strategic development across a range of leading Canadian-based companies. From 2000 to 2014, he served in a number of executive roles with Empire Company Limited, a corporation with annual sales in excess of $19 billion and operations in retailing and related real estate, including chief corporate development officer of the Sobeys unit and executive VP and CFO of Empire.

Discount retailing has undergone a major transformation in recent years

Toward the end of 2008, it became painstakingly obvious to retailers that impulse spending was out and frugal saving was in. Faced with an imminent recession, staggering job loss and quickly depleting discretionary and savings accounts, consumers began to shift their focus to value. The impact of such a large-scale economic event and an abrupt consumer focus shift would appear to alter the fundamental realities of retail.

Phillips Edison is transforming The Kenwood Collection. The Kenwood Collection is returning the favor.

Phillips Edison & Company has grown by acquiring troubled shopping centers in good locations, redeveloping and improving the tenant mix. Over the years, the company has continued to optimize retail property value with its complete operating platform providing a diverse range of retail solutions. Today, the Phillips Edison portfolio contains more than 260 shopping centers across the country.

Eleven centers opened last year, with 50 more on the drawing boards

The recession lit the fuse that has produced an explosion of outlet center development.

Los Angeles – The board of directors of Guess Inc. has appointed Joseph Gromek, increasing the number of directors to seven and bringing the total number of independent directors to five. Gromek will also serve on the Compensation and Nominating and Governance Committees of the board.