Accessories

Ralph Lauren has added some high-tech flourishes to its redesigned flagship on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif.    The 22,000-sq.-ft. store has an interactive handbag salon that allows shoppers to customize handbags — with options on monogramming, color and hardware — before the bag is actually produced, the Los Angeles Times reported.  

Bonobos opened its fifth Manhattan store this week on Madison Avenue, surrounded by neighbors that include Porsche Design, Tourneau, Dino Baldini, and Lladro.   Called the Bonobos Guideshop NYC, the store inhabits a 1,725-sq.-ft. ground floor space with all-glass frontage on the southwest corner of 52nd Street in the shadow of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The deal was brokered by RKF.   

Wolf & Badger, a strong supporter of emerging fashion brands, is dropping anchor in the United States.   Founded in February 2010 by brothers Henry and George Graham, the British retailer will open a 2,500-sq.-ft. flagship in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, in February. Although Wolf & Badger operates two stores in London, it is primarily an e-commerce player, with over 90% of its sales coming from online. But similar to many pure players, it feels a physical space is crucial to connecting with customers.  

Hudson’s Bay Company plans to open Canada’s largest Saks Fifth Avenue store, in downtown Montreal.    Scheduled to open in fall 2018, the store will be co-located in the same building as Hudson’s Bay, which will undergo a multi-million dollar renovation. The new Saks will take up approximately 200,000 sq. ft. of the existing 650,000-sq.-ft. space.   

Von Maur is slowly expanding its Dry Goods women’s specialty store format.   The retailer has opened a 4,000-sq.-ft. store at Woodland Mall. Since launching in 2010, Dry Goods has grown to 19 locations across six states.   Dry Good’s name and  store design were inspired by Von Maur's heritage as a dry goods store, dating back to 1872 in downtown Davenport, Iowa.    

Smithfield Properties has sold five properties in Chicago to the Acadia Realty Trust for $150 million, reported the deal’s broker, Mid-America Real Estate Corp.   The properties were:   • North Kingsbury Center on the corner of North Avenue and North Kingsbury Street, with tenants including Old Navy, Pier 1 Imports, Blick Art Materials, and Modani Furniture.  

The Lands' End experience has arrived in the SoHo section of Manhattan.   Lands' End opened an 8,000-sq.-ft., two-floor temporary store, at 580 Broadway, featuring men's, women's and kids' apparel, footwear and accessories from the fall, holiday and winter along with a variety of personalization services and experiences.    

Construction has begun on a 240,000-sq.-ft expansion of the Staten Island Mall, the largest shopping center in the New York City borough.   The multi-phase project will take two years to complete, and will add some 75,000 sq. ft. of space to Macy’s plus 40,000 sq. ft. for a new Dave & Busters and a 12-option food court. A new wing with a three-level parking deck is destined for one side of the General Growth Properties mall.  

Tory Burch is expanding its fledgling new retail format.   The company will open a 2,060-sq.-ft.  Tory Sport store at Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota, in late October.    Tory Sport, which launched in 2015, currently has a store in Manhattan’s Flatiron District and another in East Hampton, New York. In addition to the upcoming Mall of America store, it will open a location in Dallas, also this fall.  

Francesca’s Holdings Corp. posted better-than-expected sales and earnings for its second quarter, helped in part by higher online sales.   The retailer reported a profit of $10.6 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with a profit of $9.3 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year-ago period.      Sales increased 9% to $115.3 million, helped by a net gain of 44 stores over the year-ago period. Online sales rose 37%.