Apparel

The Men's Wearhouse reported a dapper first quarter on the same day the company inked a 10-year deal with Macy's to sell tuxedoes.

The retailer posted net income for the first quarter ended May 2 of $10.4 million or $0.21 per share, compared to $16.5 million or $0.34 per share for the year-ago quarter. Net sales for the first quarter rose 40.4% to $885.09 million from $630.47 million in the same quarter last year. 

Fremont, Calif. — Men's Wearhouse on Thursday announced it had signed a 10-year agreement with Macy's to operate men's tuxedo rental shops inside 300 Macy’s locations. The shops are expected to be located in or near the men’s department.

Men's Wearhouse will begin operating 17 pilot tuxedo shops in fall 2015,  and expects the remaining shops to be open by fall 2016. Macy's and Men's Wearhouse will also collaborate to develop a digital tuxedo rental shop on macys.com.

Oak Brook, Ill. — Retail Properties of America, Inc. (RPAI) has closed on the acquisition of Woodinville Plaza located in the Seattle Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The property was acquired on an unencumbered basis for a gross purchase price of $35.3 million.   

Troubled specialty retailer J.Crew Group Inc. says it has laid off 175 staff members and fired its chief women’s designer.

The company says the changes and business improvement initiatives will "better align with the current and future retail environment."

EVANSVILLE, Indiana — Shoe Carnival plans to launch a complementary, small-market store concept. The new format will be approximately 5,000 sq.ft. or half the size of a current Shoe Carnival store.  

Los Angeles -- American Apparel announced it has appointed Brian McHale as senior VP and CIO, with responsibility for overseeing information technology and computer systems. In addition to providing critical support to American Apparel’s onsite hardware and software applications, McHale will also lead the development and expansion of the company’s retail digital capabilities alongside Thoryn Stephens, recently appointed chief digital officer.

Saks Off 5th helped its parent, Hudson’s Bay Co., increase same store sales in the first quarter, although the company did report a larger loss.

HBC reported that for the first quarter ended May 2, same store sales increased 2.7%. The company posted a loss of $44 million, compared with a profit of C$176 million, or 97 Canadian cents, a year earlier. Adjusted to exclude restructuring and other items, the loss was C$33 million, up from a comparable C$27 million loss a year earlier. Sales rose 11.7 percent to C$2.07 billion.

Vancouver – Lululemon Athletica Inc. struck a pose of profitability in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Net income more than doubled to $47.8 million from $19 million a year earlier, aided by the elimination of a tax expense.

Net revenue increased 10% to $423.5 million, from $384.6 million. A 27% hike in direct-to-consumer net revenue, which now represents 20% of total company revenue, helped drive the overall improvement. Same-store sales dropped 1%.