Retail

China -- China once again topped the A.T. Kearney’s 2013 Retail Apparel Index, which measures the market readiness of developing economies for international apparel retailers to enter. Other compelling expansion opportunities are offered by a number of countries from Latin America and the Middle East.

New York -- Men’s apparel and accessories chain Jos. A. Bank Clothiers has confirmed that it is on the hunt for acquisitions to drive growth. The company has retained Financo LLC to assist it in its search.

“As part of its evaluation of strategic opportunities, the company has been and will continue to selectively seek potential acquisitions that are strategically sound and accretive in the long run,” Jos. A. Bank said in a statement. “No timetable has been set for any acquisition.”

Many socioeconomic pundits have bemoaned the trend in modern education and childrearing toward creating an artificially level playing field where everyone gets a participant ribbon for everything they do, regardless of how much effort they put in or how good (or bad) the results are.

Bolingbrook, Ill. -- Ulta Beauty has selected Mary Dillon, the president and CEO of U.S. Cellular, as CEO, effective July 1, 2013. She replaces Dennis K. Eck, who has been serving as interim CEO of Ulta since CEO Chuck Rubin left to head up Michaels.

Dillon, 52, who will also become a member of Ulta’s board, has served in the top spot at U.S. Cellular since 2010. Previously, she was global chief marketing officer and executive VP for McDonald's Corp.

North Plainfield, N.J. -- A cooler start to spring and mixed-bag of Memorial Day weekend weather in the Northeast may have contributed to less than expected year-to-date sales and traffic for some retailers, according to Levin Management’s annual mid-year Retail Sentiment Survey, which polled retailers in the firm’s 90-property, 12.5 million-square-foot shopping center portfolio.
 

By Mohammad Hashemi, [email protected]

Roanoke, Va. -- Advance Auto Parts has promoted Donna Justiss to the position of senior VP and chief information officer. Justiss will be responsible for the strategic leadership of all aspects of Advance’s information technology area, including application development and support, infrastructure and information security.

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- Coldwater Creek has deployed Oracle Retail’s suite of integrated merchandise planning and optimization solutions as part of a strategic initiative to increase full-price selling and improve the productivity and profitability of store, online and catalog channels. The women’s apparel retailer is using the new planning solutions to reduce aged inventory and ensure that popular items are consistently in stock.