Apparel

Dublin, Calif. -- Epicor Software Corporation announced that Grupo Axo, the business partner of internationally renowned retail brands within Mexico, has selected the full Epicor Retail Suite to help support its highly successful and expanding retail operations.

Destination Maternity Corp. is thinking big. The world’s largest retailer of maternity apparel is bullish on its superstore format, with new locations in Paramus, N.J., and Virginia Beach, Va. The Philadelphia-based company has an estimated 35% to 45% share of the U.S. maternity market.

The two new stores vary in size and have different layouts, as well as some merchandising variations. But both are designed as customer-centric, one-stop shopping resources. And both share a common vision.

In The Pink drives data to stores

For upscale retailers, providing an intimate and responsive customer experience is even more critical than it is for more mainstream chains. In The Pink, a Falmouth, Mass.-based, seven-unit affiliate of specialty retailer Lilly Pulitzer, is disrupting both how customer service is delivered in its stores and how IT vendors deliver technology to retailers.

Unusually high community engagement, user-driven initiatives, mobile growth and a love of all things vintage — that’s the formula behind the growth of ModCloth.com, which hit $100 million in sales just a decade after it launched out of co-founder Susan Gregg Koger’s dorm room back in 2002.

Chicago — Cole Real Estate has purchased Darien Towne Centre in Darien, Ill., for $22.25 million, according to Transwestern’s Chicago office, which brokered the transaction on behalf of the seller, RPAI.

Cole has the ability to expand the 177,002-sq.-ft. center, which was developed in 1994, by up to 12,000 sq. ft.

Home Depot anchors Darien Towne Center, and a Wal-Mart Supercenter shadow-anchors. National tenants include PetSmart, O’Reilly Automotive, TGI Friday’s, Great Clips, Jenny Craig and Sally Beauty Supply.

Rockville, Md. — Federal Realty Investment Trust has acquired controlling interests in two shopping centers in Affluent Monmouth County, N.J., for $161 million. Both the Grove at Shrewsbury and Brook 35 are located on Route 35 and serve the emerging bedroom and second home communities of Shrewsbury, Red Bank, Rumson, Fair Haven, Little Silver, and Middletown. The acquisition was made with a combination of downREIT units, cash and the assumption of $68 million of fixed rate debt secured by the properties.

New York -- Uniqlo will continue its expansion in the United States by opening five stores this spring/summer, including its first-ever location in the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area.
 
The five new Uniqlo stores scheduled to open in spring/summer are:

Columbus, Ohio – The Limited is extending its partnership with predictive analytics provider First Insight, Inc. to help make faster and more accurate design, buying and pricing decisions, thereby reducing markdowns and mitigating risks associated with new product introductions.

First Insight engages The Limited customers through online social engagement tools to gather real-time data on new products. This data is filtered through First Insight’s predictive analytic models to determine which products present the greatest opportunity.

Vancouver, British Columbia -- Mobile shopping continues to grow at a rapid pace, with an increasing number of mobile shoppers embracing Internet retailer apps, social shopping apps, and brick-and-mortar retail apps to enhance their shopping experience. However, new research prepared by Yankee Group for mobile analytics firm Mobdia Technology shows usage of these apps varies widely depending on many factors, including the type and quality of the mobile app.

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Amazon.com and L.L. Bean tied for the highest company-level customer satisfaction scores during the 2013 holiday season. According to the ForeSee Experience Index: 2013 U.S. Retail Edition, Amazon and L.L. Bean both scored 90, while Priceline had the lowest company-level satisfaction score (75) of 100 top retailers included in the Index.

The study offers a comprehensive view of satisfaction at the company-level and across every applicable sales channel including store, contact center, web and mobile.