Apparel

Online powerhouse Zappos has opened its first-ever freestanding store, a 20,000-sq.ft. pop-up in the company’s  hometown of downtown Las Vegas. Powered by state-of-the-art technology, the shop blends online and offline retail. In keeping with the brand’s heritage, it will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from November 21 until December 31.    

Lisa Evans has joined Gordmans Stores as EVP and chief merchandising officer as the apparel and home décor retailer looks to restore growth following another disappointing quarter.

Evans appointment to the head merchant role at the 98 store chain was announced in conjunction with third quarter results that saw same store sales decline 7.8% on top of a prior year decline of 6.1%. Net sales declined 3.1% to $146.7 million. The company reported a net loss of $1.9 million, or 10 cents a share, compared to a prior year profit of $1.1 million, or 6 cents a share.

Secaucus, N.J. – The Children’s Place Inc. has named Anurup Pruthi as senior VP and CFO, effective Dec. 1, 2014. He will report to Michael Scarpa, COO.  

Columbus, Ohio – L Brands Inc. beat Wall Street projections with net income of $131.8 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2014, up 43% from $91.99 million the same period the prior fiscal year. A boost in pretax income helped drive L Brands’ impressive profit growth.   Net sales rose 7% to $2.32 billion from $2.17 billion, and same-store sales increased 5%. 

New York - Gap Inc.'s incoming CEO, Abe Peck, is wasting no time putting his own stamp on the company, naming new presidents for the Gap and Banana Republic brands. Jeff Kirwan, 48, has been tapped to replace Stephen Sunnucks as global president for  Gap. And Owen, 49, will succeed Jack Calhoun on Jan. 5 as global president for Banana Republic.    

The Children's Place has announced the appointment of Anurup Pruthi as senior vice president and chief financial officer effective Dec. 1.

As the NBA season gets fully under way, specialty retailer Lids is looking to capitalize on fan excitement by offering customizable and personalized NBA apparel and headwear for the first time ever.  

Shoppers will be able to customize the new Adidas NBA Swingman jersey with the name and number of any NBA player, or personalize the jersey with their own name and number in more than 70 Lids stores nationwide. Player-customization or personalization of NBA team logo Adidas and Mitchell & Ness headwear will also be an option in more than 800 U.S. Lids stores.  

San Jose, Calif. - Cross-border shoppers (those for whom more than 10% of their online spend is cross-border), spend approximately twice as much as consumers who only shop domestically. New research from PayPal and Ipsos, which investigated the online and cross-border shopping habits of more than 17,500 consumers in 22 countries, shows 30% of U.S. online consumers shop across borders.