Casual

Columbus, Ohio -- Express said Friday that one of its subsidiaries has entered into a franchise agreement with Fastco Commercial S.A., a retail franchise operator, to open more than 30 Express stores over a five-year period in Panama, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, The Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Moorestown, N.J. -- Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust said that Australian fashion retailer Cotton On will open its first South Jersey location at Moorestown Mall this fall.

The 3,500-sq.-ft. store joins a recently opened Kids Foot Locker; Crazy 8 is scheduled to join the mall this fall.

Moorestown Mall is a 1 million-sq.-ft. enclosed regional shopping mall anchored by Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, Sears and Boscov’s.

Hong Kong -- Esprit Holdings Limited said Tuesday it has named Jose Manuel Martínez Gutiérrez as its new group CEO and executive director, effective September.

Martinez was previously group director of distribution and operations for Inditex. Prior to that, he was the country manager for the Zara brand across Scandinavia.

He succeeds Ronald Van Der Vis.

Hingham, Mass. -- Private equity firm Sycamore Partners, which has wrapped up its $391 million acquisition of The Talbots, appointed Michael Archbold, formerly president and COO of Vitamin Shoppe, as CEO and CFO of Talbots. Archbold, who also served as executive VP and CFO of Saks Fifth Avenue, replaces Trudy Sullivan, who resigned from the CEO’s job after Sycamore completed its acquisition of Talbots late last week.

Lakewood, Colo. -- Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group said that Ann Taylor Loft will open a store this fall at outlet and value shopping destination Colorado Mills, located in the Denver suburb of Lakewood.

Loft will be located near Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Ann Taylor Factory Outlet and Banana Republic Factory Store.
 

New York -- Prudential Douglas Elliman's Retail Group said that Italian accessories retailer Mariana Antinori will open a luxury store – the brand’s first in New York -- at 1242 Madison Avenue, between 89th and 90th Streets.

Nearby are Jacadi, Rachel Riley, Baby Cottons and Brooks Brothers, as well as Armani Jr., Robert Marc, Christopher Fischer Cashmere, Malia Mills and Pink Chicken 'Tween.
 

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Body Central Corp., which operates 258 stores under the Body Shop and Body Central banners, reported Thursday that net income for the second quarter dropped to $3.4 million, from $5.3 million in the year-ago period.

Revenues climbed 6.3% to $79.4 million, and same-store sales decreased 7.6%.

The company opened 15 new stores and closed one during the second quarter.
 

I’ll say this for Ron Johnson: He has turned staid J.C. Penney into the most talked-about retailer in the nation. The company accounted for five of the 10 most-viewed stories on this website in the first half of 2012 (see story). And industry analysts and consultants can’t stop speculating on the chain’s fortunes, in print, on the web and on television.