Apparel

North Plainfield, N.J. — Mattress Warehouse has leased a 21,404-sq.-ft. space at Crossroads Place in Falls Church, Va., according to Levin Management (www.levinmgt.com), the leasing and management agent for the 336,248-sq.-ft. shopping center. The lease signing brings retail occupancy at the center to 100%. JBG Rosenfeld Retail served as the tenant’s broker in the transaction. Plans call for the new store to open in March.

Virginia Beach, Va. — Divaris Real Estate has completed two retail leases totaling more than 21,000 sq. ft. in Richmond.

PetSmart renewed its lease for 19,734 sq. ft. at Parch Place at Short Pump, which is leased and managed by Divaris (www.divaris.com). Metro Commercial Real Estate represented the tenant.

Kamayan Restaurant leased 1,577 sq. ft. in the 360 West Shopping Center, which Divaris leases and manages. The Filipino restaurant joins Rite Aid, AutoZone, Dollar General, Subway, Jackson Hewitt and Radio Shack.

The high school in Buena Vista, Colo., earned an annual award from athletic apparel manufacturer Russell Brands after it demonstrated courage and perseverance following a tragic event in September.

A search is underway for a new CEO at Crocs following an investment by private equity firm Blackstone and ongoing sales and profitability challenges which could see the funky footwear maker open fewer stores.

Crocs said John McCarvel planned to retire from his position as Croc’s president, CEO and board member around April 30, 2014 as the company rethinks its approach to growth with increased input from Blackstone representatives who will occupy two board seats.

New York -- Zappos took the top spot in a ranking of fastest holiday shippers according to a study by Kurt Salmon and StellaService. The study analyzed shipping times for orders placed on Cyber Monday from more than 50 retailers across a broad range of retail sectors, from big boxes to online-only players. It found that retailers in the top-five delivered multi-unit orders in an average of 2.9 days.

The top five companies for holiday shipping are the following:

Purchase, N.Y. – U.S. retail sales reportedly rose 3.5% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, 2013 compared to the same period in the prior year. According to data from MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, sales of holiday-related categories, such as clothing, electronics and luxury goods, rose 2.3%, after rising 0.7% in 2012.

Reston, Va. -- Several retail subcategories were among the top-gaining in November as Thanksgiving kicked off the holiday shopping season. According to comScore Media Metrix analysis of U.S., desktop activity in November 2013, the retail categories of toys, consumer electronics, jewelry/luxury goods/accessories, department stores, mall, and fragrances/cosmetics all were among the top 10 gaining desktop site categories in November.

New York – Eight of the 25 largest retailers (32%, or roughly one-in-three) failed to deliver at least one package ordered on the cutoff date to arrive before Christmas via standard shipping in a study performed by StellaService. The study involved placing three orders, one each in the East, West and Midwest regions, from each retailer.

Of 75 total orders, 12% missed the delivery estimate. All but one of these orders were shipped using UPS, which is the preferred carrier for most of the top 25 retailers. Some retailer-specific results include:

New York – At least four law firms are investigating the pending purchase of The Jones Group. The law office of Brodsky & Smith, LLC, Vincent Wong, Farugi and Farugi, LLP and Robbins Arroyo LLP are investigating potential claims against the board of directors of The Jones Group, Inc. relating to the proposed acquisition by Sycamore Partners.

Avon, Mass. – SelecTech, Inc., a provider of flooring products made from recycled materials, is launching a retail/franchise division. Based out of the company’s corporate headquarters in Avon, Mass., the new division will feature customer service and marketing representatives specifically dedicated to retail and franchise customers with multiple locations.