Apparel

New York - Eminence Capital, LLC, which owns 4.9% of the common stock of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, has sent a letter to the board of directors criticizing their announced acquisition of Eddie Bauer. According to the letter, signed by Eminence CEO Ricky Sandler, the nearly $900 million acquisition is a poor decision that has an excessive price which almost surely destroys shareholder value.

Hampstead, Md. - JoS. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. has commenced a tender offer to purchase up to $300 million in value of shares of its common stock at a price of $65 per share. The closing price of the company's common stock on Feb. 18, 2014 was $54.20 per share.

Vancouver, Canada – Amazon.com is the top digital Canadian retailer and U.S., retailers are generally outpacing their Canadian competitors in using digital channels such as online, mobile and social. According to the new “Chasm Retail 2.0” study from Chasm Digital, the top 10 digital retailers operating in Canada are:

1. Amazon
2. Best Buy
3. Home Depot
4. Sears
5. Lululemon
6. Costco
7. Chapters
8. London Drugs
9. Lowes
10. Canadian Tire

New York – The board of directors of Foot Locker Inc. has elected Steven Oakland as a director of the company. Oakland is currently president -international, foodservice, and natural foods of The J.M. Smucker Company.

Oakland has spent the bulk of his career at The J.M. Smucker Company, serving in increasingly senior positions. He has extensive experience in domestic and international retail operations at the company, having also served as president of U.S. Retail for Smucker's, Jif, and Hungry Jack.

Hamilton, Bermuda - In a deal that would combine the two largest mid-tier jewelry chains in the United States, Signet Jewelers Ltd. has agreed to buy rival Zale Corp. for about $690 million dollars. Signet will offer $21 in cash for each Zale share, representing a 41% premium over Tuesday's closing price.

A new concept from Jockey International, Jockey Bra offers shoppers an innovative shopping experience. The 1,170-sq.-ft. store, at Woodfield Mall, showcases Jockey’s revolutionary “volumetric” fitting system, which is designed to eliminate the frustrations associated with traditional bra shopping.  

Foot Locker has elected Steven Oakland, president of international, foodservice and natural foods at the J.M. Smucker Company, as a director of the company.

Oakland has spent the bulk of his career at J.M. Smucker serving in increasingly senior positions. He has experience in domestic and international retail operations at the company, having also served as president of U.S. retail for Smucker's, Jif and Hungry Jack, and as GM of its Canadian operations.

Signet Jewelers is in the process of acquiring all issued and outstanding stock of Zale for $21 per share in cash consideration. The transaction brings together two leading jewelry retailers with six brands available across three countries with combined sales of $6.2 billion.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Company has named Ed Record as CFO, effective March 24. He will also serve as executive VP. Record, 45, comes to Penney from regional department store chain Stage Stores, where he most recently served as COO and, before that, as CFO.

Record will succeed Ken Hannah, who was hired in May 2012 under former CEO Ron Johnson.

Irvine, Calif. – Beall’s has selected replenishment and profiling solutions from JustEnough Software Corporation, a provider of demand management solutions for retail, wholesale and direct-to-consumer businesses worldwide.

Beall’s utilizes existing legacy systems, so delivering strong, focused product presentations and excellent in-stocks required a high inventory investment and was very time consuming.