Footwear

Ed Burstell will join Hudson’s Bay Company’s leadership team as head of partnerships.    In this newly created position, Burstell will develop and lead partnerships to drive innovative and exclusive offerings across all of HBC’s banners globally — a move that will help differentiate the company across the marketplace. Burstell, who comes aboard on Dec. 5, will report to the company’s CEO Jerry Storch.  

American consumers will generate an accelerating 4.1% year-over-year increase in 2016 holiday sales, well exceeding 2015’s tepid 3.6% growth.  

Nordstrom has opened its second full-line store In Toronto. The department store retailer opened a three-level, 199,000-sq.-ft. store at Yorkdale Shopping Centre on Oct. 21. It is the company's second location in Toronto, with the first, at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, opening in September.

Skechers’ third quarter results came in below estimates as the company said it would continue to focus internationally for growth.   The Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based brand’s net income fell 2.2% to $65.1 million, or 42 cents per diluted share, which was below forecasts for diluted EPS of 47 cents. Skechers said its diluted EPS were negatively impacted by foreign currency translation and exchange losses.  

Two online brands and an iconic American designer top a list of retail brands that command the most loyalty among consumers.   Amazon, Zappos and Ralph Lauren were the top loyalty leaders in the retail segment in the 20th annual  Brand Keys Loyalty Leaders List.  The ranking, which is 100% consumer-driven, examined 72 categories and 635 brands. Rounding out the top five in retail: Sephora and Trader Joe’s.     

Saks Fifth Avenue has opened its first standalone store dedicated exclusively to footwear.  

On the heels of Golfsmith and The Sports Authority declaring bankruptcy, PGA Tour Superstore is picking up momentum and opening stores.     The privately held chain recently acquired a Sports Authority location in Glendale, Arizona, which it will reopen under its own banner in January 2017. PGA Tour is also planning new stores in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and in Jacksonville, Florida, with both opening in 2017.  

Dick’s Sporting Goods has cast its eye on another bankrupt sports retailer and former competitor.   In June, Dick’s acquired the intellectual property of the bankrupt Sports Authority. Dick’s is now preparing a bid for the U.S. business of Golfsmith International Holdings Inc., according to Reuters.      In making a bid, Dick’s is going up against an offer by Worldwide Golf Shops, according to the report.     

Rubinstein Real Estate Company has sold the Blackhawk Village shopping center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, for $3.4 million to a private investor. Mid-America Real Estate brokered the sale.   The 65,548-sq.-ft. center includes Chuck E. Cheese’s, Famous Footwear, Key West Fitness, and Dollar Tree.   Cedar Falls, a city of about 40,000 people, is the home of the University of Northern Iowa and is situated in Black Hawk County.

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Thinking about setting up shop between 49th and 60th Streets on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue? Better be prepared to pay big bucks.   The upper part of Fifth Avenue is the most expensive retail street in the world (based on rental value), with rents rising to a whopping $3,500 per square foot in 2015, according to the 27th edition of Cushman & Wakefield’s report, Main Streets Across The World.