Casual

Ezra Dabah is no stranger to children’s wear. As the former chairman and CEO of The Children’s Place, he helped create a billion-dollar retail powerhouse. Dabah left the company in 2007, but he returned to the kids fashion business with Ruum American Kid’s Wear, a fashion-forward upmarket concept that bowed in 2012 and operates 24 stores, primarily in malls.

Amsterdam, Netherlands – Dutch specialty fashion retailer Mexx, which operates 800 stores across 55 countries, has retained Gordon Brothers Group and Hilco Merchant Resources to begin going-out-of-business sales at all Mexx retail locations throughout Canada. Mexx currently operates 95 retail locations across Canada.    

Dov Charney, the controversial founder of American Apparel, has been fired "for cause" as CEO, the company said.

Charney was suspended as president and CEO of the hipster apparel chain in June for alleged misconduct and violations of company policy. The decision was made by the board’s “suitability committee,” which was formed to oversee an internal investigation in the wake of Charney's suspension.

Brisbane, Calif. - bebe stores announded that Jim Wiggett has been named CEO and appointed to the company’s board of directors, effective immediately. He has been serving as interim chief executive since June 2014.  

BURLINGTON, Mass. - Demandware, a provider of enterprise cloud commerce solutions, announced that Quiksilver has expanded its relationship with Demandware to roll out the cloud platform on a global scale. The company made the switch from an on-premise solution for improved time to market and to provide a consistent customer experience across multiple brands and geographies, while driving growth.  

Brisbane, Calif. – Bebe Stores Inc. has named Jim Wiggett, who has been serving as interim CEO since June 2014, as permanent CEO and member of the board of directors. Wiggett is a 40-year retail and business veteran.  

A sharper focus on merchandising and marketing netted positive results for Gymboree, as the company reported an increase in same store sales for the third quarter.

But the company did report a steep loss of $522.1 million, compared with a loss of $24 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2013. Same store sales increased 1%. Net sales were $316.8 million, compared with $309.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2013.

Kearney, Neb. – The Buckle Inc. has made a number of reappointments to its executive staff. Kelli D. Molczyk has been appointed to the position of VP of women’s merchandising, Diane L. Applegate has been appointed to the position of VP of supply chain and merchandising operations, and Thomas B. Heacock has been appointed to the position of VP of finance, treasurer, and corporate controller and has been appointed as a member of the company’s executive committee.   

New York - In an abrupt move, Michael Jefferies, the longtime and often controversial chief of Abercrombie & Fitch, has retired as CEO and stepped down from the company’s board, effective immediately. His retirement caught the industry by surprise, particularly since it comes in the middle of the crucial holiday selling season.    

Plenty of retailers talk about returning cash to shareholders, but none does so as aggressively as The Buckle which just announced a whopper of a special dividend.

The Kearney, Neb.-based operator of 463 stores said it would pay a $2.77 special dividend in addition to its regular quarterly dividend of 23 cents on Jan. 27 to shareholders of record on Jan. 15. It is the seventh consecutive year the debt-free specialty retailer of young men’s and women’s apparel has paid a special dividend on top of its quarterly payout.