Retail

New York -- The Jones Group Inc. said Monday that it has nominated James Mitarotonda, chairman and CEO of Barington Capital Group, to its board of directors, expanding the board to 11 members.

Barington has about a 2.3% stake in Jones Group.

When The Mall at Bay Plaza opens to the public in 2014, adjacent to the highly successful outdoor Bay Plaza Shopping Center, it will be heralded as the first enclosed fashion mall in the New York City area in nearly 40 years.

That’s big news. Particularly at a time when new development has taken a back seat to redevelopment of existing assets.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Monday that it has launched a new TV and digital ad campaign designed to demonstrate what the retailer describes as “The Real Walmart.”

The campaign also includes a dedicated website – therealwalmart.com – demonstrating how consumers rely on Walmart to save money, on the company’s career opportunities, and detailing how it creates efficiencies and works directly with manufacturers to help deliver low prices.

New York -- RKF has arranged a 1,500-sq.-ft. lease at 35 Crosby Street in SoHo for men’s e-commerce apparel brand Bonobos, which will open its first stand-alone Guideshop location in New York City.

Bonobos currently operates five other brick-and-mortar locations elsewhere.

In the cast iron district of SoHo, the retailer will operate in 1,000 sq. ft. on the ground floor and 500 sq. ft. on the lower level of the seven-story building. The new store is slated to open in mid-May.

New York -- Modell’s Sporting Goods will celebrate the grand opening of its store in Arlington, Va., on May 9.
   
The store is located in Pentagon Centre. With its opening, Modell’s will have a total of 154 storefronts.
 
“We are thrilled to have our 18th store in the Virginia-Maryland area,” said Modell’s president and CEO Mitchell Modell. “We look forward to becoming a stronghold in our new community and getting them everything they need for the summer.”
 

Cary, N.C. -- Indianapolis-based Kite Realty Group announced that Petco has leased 12,500 sq. ft. at Parkside Town Commons, located in Cary, N.C.
 
As well, Total Wine & More has leased 23,890 sq. ft. at International Speedway Square, in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Virginia Beach, Va. -- Divaris Real Estate has announced the completion of several leases for retail space in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Richmond, Va.  
 
The first lease was signed with O’Reilly Auto Parts for 12,608 sq. ft. in a former Rite Aid pharmacy located in Norfolk.  O’Reilly operates 13 other stores in Hampton Roads.
 

Montreal -- Jesta I.S. said Monday it has expanded its relationship with Canadian shoe store operator Town Shoes, parent to the Sterling Shoes, Shoe Warehouse and Freedman Shoes banners, to include the implementation of the multichannel order management capabilities delivered by Vision E-DOM.

In deciding to implement Jesta I.S., Town Shoes will further leverage its existing IT infrastructure, at the backbone of which are Vision’s foundational Merchandising ERP and POS systems.