Retail

San Francisco -- The Gymboree Corporation has appointed former Levi Strauss & Co. executive Joelle Maher as the company's new COO.  

At Levi Strauss & Co., Maher was most recently executive VP, president global retail, and prior to that senior VP of Americas multichannel retail, and VP, planning, allocation, stores, store operations and outlet.

She also held executive leadership positions at Lucky Brand Jeans, Old Navy and Macy's East.

Mountain View, Calif. – In a new report, “The Four Mobile Traps,” usability testing service firm UserTesting.com identifies four common mistakes retailers make when attempting to perform mobile commerce. Following is a brief summary of each “trap:”

By Ben Anderson and Luge Pravda  

With an estimated 20 new TLDs (Top Level Domains, which is the suffix to the right of the dot) being launched on a weekly basis from August 2013, it’s time for retail brand owners to stop and think about their domain strategy once again.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Pier 1 Imports announced a 14% jump in fiscal first-quarter earnings on Thursday and upgraded its full-year guidance.

The company reported net income of $20.3 million for the first quarter ended June 1, compared to $17.8 million for the year ago period.

Total sales were $395 million, a 9.3% increase from $361 million in the prior year quarter. Same-store sales rose 5.9% on stronger store traffic and higher average tickets.

Miami, Fla. – Burger King Worldwide Inc. is expanding its BK Delivers home/work delivery program to five restaurants in Boston. Customers inside delivery zones can customize Burger King products and order them either online or by phone. The service, currently available in New York, Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco Bay Area, Vegas, Sacramento, greater Washington, D.C., Phoenix and Denver, has launched in one Boston restaurant, will launch in two more in the next two to three weeks, and in another two stores during the summer.

San Jose, Calif. -- A Wednesday report by Bloomberg said that Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Corp. has been given approval by the bankruptcy court to seek bids from liquidators to run going-out-of-business sales at eight underperforming stores and potentially another 22.

Virginia Beach, Va. -- Divaris Real Estate has arranged five retail leases for space in Chesapeake, Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

T-Mobile signed three leases for 4,225 sq. ft. The company will move into 1,600 sq. ft. in Kempsriver Crossing in Virginia Beach, 1,500 sq. ft. in Southern Shopping Center in Norfolk and 1,125 sq. ft. in Indian River Shoppes in Chesapeake.

Original Mattress Factory is relocating to a larger space in Sam’s Circle in Chesapeake. The new space is 2,400 sq. ft.

New York -- George Zimmer, the founder and pitchman of Men’s Wearhouse, wasted no time in firing back at the company that fired him as executive chairman on Wednesday morning.  In a statement released to CNBC, Zimmer suggested that disagreements with the company’s board led to his abrupt termination: