Footwear

Chicago -- West Marine will celebrate the grand opening of its Chicago flagship on Thursday, April 23, and continuing through Sunday, April 26.

At 20,000 sq. ft., the Halsted Street location will be the largest West Marine store in the Midwest. The new store will include such features as a state-of-the-art marine electronics display with over 100 units that shoppers can touch and test, and a dedicated "Paddle World" featuring a huge selection of kayaks and stand-up paddleboards, plus a broad range of paddling accessories.

Century 21, the coveted off-price store beloved by fashionistas in the Northeast, has announced that it will be heading south for its next location.

Century 21 will be opening an approximately 85,000-square-foot store – the first anywhere in the nation outside of the Northeast – at Sawgrass Mills in South Florida in the fall of 2016.

Cabela’s is growing its Canadian operations once again with a new store in British Columbia. 

Cabela’s could begin construction in Abbotsford, B.C., this year, and could open in fall 2016. The proposed store site is located at 1880 McCallum Road in the newly planned McCallum Junction development off Exit 90 of Trans-Canada Highway 1. McCallum Junction Properties Inc. is the developer.

New York -- There’s been a change at the top at Saks Fifth Avenue. On Thursday, Saks parent company Hudson’s Bay Company announced that company veteran Marc Metrick, 41, is replacing Marigay McKee as president of Saks Fifth Avenue, effective April 2, 2015. It’s a return of sorts for Metrick, who is HBC’s executive VP and chief administrative officer. He spent the first 15 years of his career at Saks Fifth Avenue, ultimately becoming its chief strategy officer, before joining the leadership team of HBC in 2012 as chief marketing officer.

Fast casual chain Forever 21 has added men’s, girls and plus collections to 50 more stores as part of its global expansion plan.

Forever 21+, Forever 21 Men and Forever 21 Girls will now be added to 50 existing U.S. stores in markets such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Stamford, Conn., and more.

Sydney, Australia -- Australian omnichannel footwear retailer Shoes of Prey, which enables shoppers to design their own shoes,  has launched phase two of its “Design Your Own Shoes” studios in partnership with Nordstrom. The collaboration marks the brand’s first foray into the U.S. market, bringing its virtual design experience to a physical shop-in-shop concept.

Seattle – Online specialty footwear retailers Shoes.com, OnlineShoes.com and Shoeme.ca will now be known as Shoes.com. Despite the new parent brand, OnlineShoes.com and Shoeme.ca will continue to operate under their individual names.

Santa Monica, Calif. -- Online fashion fave Nasty Gal has opened its second brick-and-mortar location, on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California. At 6,500 sq. ft., the new store is nearly triple the size of the retailer’s first location, on Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles, and is filled with neon accents and kitschy-but-hip accents.

New York -- From extreme-value discounters to c-store operators, retailers across the board are expanding their brick-and-mortar portfolios in 2015. Here’s a review:

• Dollar General will open 730 new stores and remodel 875 existing locations.

• DSW Inc. will open 35 stores, including locations in at least 12 new markets.

• Express is ramping up its new outlet format with 30 locations.

Indianapolis -- The Finish Line Inc. on Friday reported a decline in its fourth-quarter profit and cautioned that profits in its current year may not hit expectations of a fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $40.8 million.

The retailer also authorized a new 5-million-share buyback program.

The Finish Line’s earnings in the fourth quarter fell 5% to $40.8 million.

Consolidated net sales for the quarter were $551.3 million, an increase of 6.3% over the prior year period. Same-store sales increased 2.6%.