Retail

Brisbane, Calif. – Bebe Stores Inc. will exit its 2b business by July 5, which is the end of the company’s fiscal 2014. The retailer says this will allow it to increase its focus on the core Bebe brand’s retail and outlet stores, e-commerce and international licensing business.

El Paso, Texas – A 20,000-sq.-ft. retail center is planned to open in El Paso, Texas, this summer. The center will be constructed by EP Riverbend Development and real estate broker Will Brown on a mostly empty site occupied by a single liquor store, which will be torn down.

The center will be called The Substation and offer spaces as small as 800 sq. ft. for rental. Plans include outdoor spaces and seating and a closed pedestrian mall. Construction is set to begin in the fall.

Boston – Specialty men’s apparel retailer Blank Label opens its second store in the Downtown Crossing neighborhood of Boston on June 30. According to CNBC, Blank Label, which opened as an online-only retailer in 2009 and opened its first store in Boston in 2013, plans to open six more new physical stores on the East Coast by 2016.

New York -- The battle for control over American Apparel Inc. shifted into high gear with the company adopting a one-year stockholder rights plan, or so-called poison pill, aimed at stopping founder and ousted chairman and CEO Dov Charney from seizing control of the chain.

Charney is American Apparel’s largest shareholder, with a 27.2% stake in the company. On Wednesday, he signed a deal with Standard General whereby the New York firm would buy at least 10% of the company’s stock and then loan Charney the funds to acquire the stake.

Indianapolis -- The Finish Line’s first-quarter profit more than doubled as the retailer expanded its presence online and in Macy's stores nationwide. Its results topped Wall Street estimates.
 
The retailer reported a profit of $12.4 million, compared to $5.1 million in the year-ago period. Revenue was up 16% to $406.5 million. Same-store sales increased 5%.
 

Paterson, N.J. — Planet Fitness will open an 18,000-sq.-ft. facility at 100 Hamilton Plaza in Paterson, New Jersey, the facility will occupy the first-floor retail space in the 175,000-sq.-ft. downtown office tower.

Cushman & Wakefield’s East Rutherford, N.J., office represented the building’s owner, Mountain Development Corp. in the transaction. Ripco Real Estate represented the Planet Fitness franchisee, who operates several other regional locations.

Union, N.J. – Bed, Bath and Beyond Inc. had a difficult first quarter of fiscal 2014, missing Wall Street estimates on both profits and sales. Net earnings fell 8% to $187.1 million, from $202.5 million in the same period a year earlier. Sales rose 2% to $2.66 billion from $2.61 billion, and same-store sales climbed 0.4%.

New store growth, 13.4% operating margins and totally untapped e-commerce potential failed to impress would-be Michaels investors when the company returned to public ownership Friday, June 27.