Accessories

Dublin, Calif. --  dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc. will open a new store in Dallas on Sept. 27.  The store is located at Skillman Abrams Crossing in North Dallas. 

Including this new location, dd’s DISCOUNTS will operate approximately 150 locations in 13 states. The company is on schedule to complete its expansion plan to open approximately 20 locations in 2014.

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us and specialty retailer Claire’s have entered into a global partnership to open nearly 100 Claire’s in-store shops in Toys “R” Us locations across Europe, along with 12 U.S. locations, by year-end. The shops will feature an assortment of jewelry, headbands, hair and fashion accessories, jewelry holders, legwear, seasonal items and more. The rollout follows a successful pilot program in Europe.  

Leading accessories retailer Claire’s plans to open 100 of its distinctive branded shops with thousands of products within Toys “R” Us stores worldwide by year end and alluded to the possibility of more locations to come.

Trendy teen retailer Hot Topic is banking on the popularity of the upcoming animated movie The Book of Life to drive sales of an exclusive merchandise offering inspired by the 20th Century Fox and Reel FX Animation Studios film.

The movie arrives in theaters October 17 and Hot Topic in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products has introduced a graphically-stunning limited-edition collection of fashion apparel inspired by the fantasy-adventure film.

Houston -- Francesca's Holdings Corp. on Tuesday reported second quarter net income of $10.3 million, down from $14.6 million in the year-earlier period. Earnings and sales both fell short of estimates. The retailer also lowered its earnings outlook for the year.

Net sales rose 9% to $97.3 million, driven largely by new openings. Total apparel sales increased 14%, accessories sales increased 14%, and gift sales increased 25%. The gains were offset by a 12% decrease in jewelry sales,

Same-store sales fell 7%.

Tilly’s, a leading specialty retailer in the action sports industry selling clothing, shoes, and accessories, has enlisted visual search platform Slyce to assist it in the creation of Tilly's Snap Shop.

The service leverages Slyce visual search technology to enable users to access the retailer’s mobile website on their smartphones, snap photos of desired items within any of Tilly's seasonal collection catalogs and purchase the item directly at the moment of impulse.

Francesca's saw improvement in sales trends for its apparel, accessories and gift categories in the second quarter of 2014. But these were offset by weak jewelry sales, which took a bite out of the retailer’s gross profit.

Secaucus, N.J. -- The Children's Place announced the appointment of Robert Vill as group VP, finance, effective Sept. 8. He will report to Michael Scarpa, COO and CFO.

The Children's Place has appointed Robert Vill as group VP of finance. He will report to Michael Scarpa, chief operating officer and CFO.

"Bob brings to The Children's Place a wealth of financial expertise in the areas of corporate finance, treasury and investor relations," Scarpa said. "I am very pleased to welcome him to our team."

Kansas City, Kansas -- Legends Outlets Kansas City announced that Coach is extending the stay of the area’s first Coach Factory pop-up location through the holidays, until January 2015.
 
Coach Factory opened its pop-up before Memorial Day weekend and has added new inventory almost daily since opening.