Apparel

Price cuts made to clear seasonal merchandise were a primary driver of Chico’s lower net income for the second quarter ended Aug. 2.

The company posted net income of $30.1 million for the quarter, a drop of 31% from $43.6 million in the year-ago period. Net sales for the quarter were $671.1 million, an increase of 3.3% from $649.5 million in the previous year, but driven primarily by sales at 98 net new stores. Same-store sales inched up by 0.3%.

Express CEO Michael Weiss was optimistic about the retailer’s progress in the second quarter, especially considering the difficult environment the company has been dealing with in recent months.

Seattle – Nordstrom Inc. is making it easier for its customers to shop on Instagram. The retailer has become the first company to launch the Like2Buy platform, which is designed to enable a more seamless shopping experience for customers on Instagram.  Like2Buy allows Nordstrom.com customers to directly purchase items featured on the retailer’s Instagram page.

Boston - Nearly 80% of college students describe themselves as “more cost-conscious this year than a year ago.” However, according to a recent back-to-school survey of 1,420 U.S. college students by college marketing agency Fluent, students said they are willing to make an exception to the low-spending rule and anticipate spending “more than they should” in select categories, specifically clothing, technology and dorm room accessories.

Following are key highlights from the survey:

Greenwich, Conn. – Women’s lifestyle brand Vince Camuto will deploy Island Pacific SmartSuite solutions in all Vince Camuto retail stores. Island Pacific's SmartRetail core merchandising application, part of the Island Pacific SmartSuite of solutions for specialty retailers, will provide Vince Camuto parent company Camuto Group with an integrated end-to-end solution for the company’s headquarters and retail stores.

Indianapolis - Simon is launching Lookbook Live, a joint fall fashion program spanning print, digital, social media, and live events in collaboration with Glamour and GQ magazines. Kicking off in Glamour's and GQ's September issues with a nine-page custom-shot Simon Lookbook insert, the program extends online with significant presence on Glamour's and GQ's digital properties, including his-and-hers videos, which provide an in-depth look into how to wear fall's trends.

Menlo Park, Calif. – Women’s online shopping marketplace Poshmark is launching PoshMatch, a social merchandising engine that combines community curation and algorithmic technology to match shoppers to merchandise based on their social activity in the app. With PoshMatch, each shopper is greeted with their own real-time storefront built from their personal fashion shopping network and their style preferences.

Toronto - Hudson’s Bay Company has appointed John Caplice to the position of senior VP treasury and investor relations, effective Sept. 2. He most recently served as senior VP treasurer & investor relations at Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. from 2000-2014.

While at Shoppers Drug Mart, Caplice was responsible for treasury and compliance activities, as well as developing and implementing communication strategies.

Caplice will be based in Toronto and will report to Paul Beesley, CFO, Hudson’s Bay Company.   

H&M’s new Fifth Avenue flagship in Manhattan is the fast-fashion giant’s largest store in the world, a whopping 57,000 sq. ft. Beyond its sheer size, the store breaks new ground for the Swedish retailer in a number of other ways. Here are five big ones: