Apparel

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.

Seattle — Next fall, REI will open a 23,000-sq.-ft. store at Sun Center in Columbus, Ohio. That store will join a previously announced 23,400-sq.-ft. REI slated to open in the spring at Easton Gateway. The retailer opened its first Ohio store in Cincinnati in 2012.

REI is the nation’s largest consumer cooperative with 5.1 million active members and 132 stores.

Covington, La. — Stirling Properties and JCH Development have closed on land acquisition and development financing for Magnolia Marketplace, a 106,000-sq.-ft. shopping center in New Orleans at the intersection of South Claiborne Avenue and Toledano Street. First NBC Bank of New Orleans provided financing for the project.

North Olmsted, Ohio — Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services has arranged the sale of North Olmsted Towne Center, a 95,446-sq.-ft. shopping center in North Olmsted, Ohio, approximately 17 miles southwest of Cleveland. The selling price was $17.79 million, $186 per square foot.

Towne Center tenants include David’s Bridal, The Tile Shop, Jimmy John’s, La-Z-Boy, Men’s Wearhouse, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Party City and Pearle Vision.

Whitehouse, Ohio — Devonshire REIT has acquired five retail properties in Ohio for $31 million. The properties include:

•    Monroe Street Square Shopping, a 124,904-sq.-ft. center in Toledo, Ohio, anchored by Hobby Lobby. Tenants include Sally Beauty Supply, Gamestop, Play It Again Sports and Sprint PCS.

•    Bed Bath & Beyond Plaza, a 100% leased, 55,139-sq.-ft. center in Toledo, anchored by Bed Bath & Beyond. Tenants include SalonCentric and Edward D. Jones.

January 2014 is projected to be the coldest in three years for the U.S. as a whole. The storm track, which will favor the milder and wetter Pacific, will be driven inland across the West with storms moving into the Plains and then heading into the Great Lakes or re-developing off the New England coast. This pattern will produce colder trends across the East Coast, but there will be short warm-ups ahead of the storms that will help to keep average temperatures near normal.

Holiday sales are up 2.3% so far this season with the bulk of gift card redemptions yet to contribute to the results, according to new data from MasterCard SpendingPulse.

Chicago -- Rough weather last week prevented many last-minute shoppers from getting to the stores to finish up their holiday purchasing. ShopperTrak reported that for the week of Dec. 16 to Dec. 22, GAFO in-store retail sales decreased by 3.1% from the same week last year. Retail brick-and-mortar shopper traffic decreased by 21.2% compared to the same time period in 2012.

Hampstead, Md. – The board of directors of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. has unanimously rejected a non-binding acquisition proposal it received on Nov. 26, 2013, from The Men's Wearhouse, Inc. Assisted by outside financial advisors, the board determined the price of roughly $1.54 billion significantly undervalued the company and its near and long-term potential and was not in the best interest of the company's shareholders.