Apparel

Quebec City, Quebec – La Maison Simons will open a 113,000-sq.-ft. flagship at Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga, Ontario in spring 2016. The two-level Simons store will be the retailer’s first store in Ontario and represents a $52 million investment and will occupy a large portion of the existing Sears store as part of Square One's ongoing development projects.

Houston -- Simon Property Group announced today that four new, high-end retailers, Rolex, Tod's, Trina Turk and Tourbillon, will be added to the retail mix at The Galleria shopping center in Houston. Gucci, Tory Burch, Zara, Sephora and Club Monaco will also execute lease renewals and expansions in 2014. In addition, Chanel has renewed its lease and will be renovating the boutique.

Details of 2014 activity at The Galleria in Houston include:

Hoffman Estates, Ill. — In a not-so-unexpected move, Sears Holdings Corp. on Friday said it had filed to spin off its Lands' End unit.

Sears has been selling or spinning off assets during the past few years as it struggles to turn around its business. The company sold its Orchard Supply Hardware Stores and its Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores businesses last year. In October, Sears said it would consider strategic alternatives for its line of auto centers. Sears also is selling some store leases in Canada.

Chad Kessler was named chief merchandising and design officer at American Eagle Outfitters after the company reported a big decline in third-quarter profits and said it expects fourth quarter same-store sales to decline.

Genesco, the company behind Lids and Journeys, is the latest company to express concern about the holiday season and lower fourth-quarter expectations after producing a solid third-quarter performance.

Tide Pods, a line of laundry detergent capsules from Proctor & Gamble, has partnered with clothing designer and Council of Fashion Designers of America member Tracy Reese.

For the first time, Reese will be introducing machine-washable fashions as part of her fall 2014 collection. The collaboration is in conjunction with the Tide Pods and CFDA Washable Fashion Initiative, a response to the ongoing demand for washable garments and an uptick in consumer appetite for designer fashions.

The retail industry will lose an estimated $8.76 billion to return fraud this year, and $3.39 billion during the holiday season alone, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2013 Return Fraud Survey. Overall, 5.8% of holiday returns are fraudulent, up slightly from 4.6% last year.

Sears Holdings' plan to spin off Lands' End may have gotten all the attention on Friday, but the retailer’s former hometown and outlet stores division shared results showing how it has fared after receiving similar treatment a year earlier.

In a move designed to accelerate adoption of RFID at the item level, Avery Dennison has signed a licensing agreement with Round Rock Research.

Boulder, Colo. -- Nordstrom is North America’s overall favorite fashion retailer for the second consecutive time, according to a new study of more than 6,800 consumers conducted by Market Force Information (Market Force), a provider of customer intelligence solutions.

Kohl’s is the most visited for casual clothing, business attire and children’s clothing, while Dick’s Sporting Goods won out for sports apparel and DSW for footwear.