Apparel

Deborah Cavanagh has joined women’s specialty retailer Coldwater Creek as SVP and chief marketing officer after serving in a similar capacity at the LOFT division of Ann Taylor.

Cavanagh will join the company September 16 and lead multi-channel brand marketing and creative services, reporting directly to Coldwater Creek president and CEO Jill Dean. Her appointment follows the release of disappointing first quarter results that saw same store sales at the operator of 347 stores decline 10.5%

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Strength in ladies accessories and lingerie contributed to a 1% second quarter same store sales increase that helped Dillard’s exceed profit forecasts.

New York -- Jos. A. Bank Clothiers on Tuesday came under criticism from BeaconLight Capital LLC, which owns more than 1% of the men’s apparel chain. In an open letter to the company’s board, the investment manager called for a reorganization of the retailer's board and return of cash to shareholders, preferably through buy-backs.

Sterne Agee chief economist Lindsey M. Piegza comments on July retail sales gain of 0.2%:

Headline retail sales rose 0.2% in July, slightly less than expected but last month’s sales were revised up two-tenths from 0.4% to 0.6%. This is the fourth consecutive monthly increase in retail sales. Excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.5%, the strongest monthly gain since February.

Washington, D.C. -- U.S. retail sales edged up 0.2% in July from June, according to figures from the Department of Commerce. This followed a 0.6% month-over-month boost in sales in June, driven by strong auto sales. The slower sales uptick reflected a drop in purchases of automobiles, along with furniture and electronics.

Hilton Head Island, S.C. — SERG Restaurant Group has announced that it has signed a letter of intent to create of a new restaurant for Shelter Cove Town Center. The concept for the new restaurant has been in development for three years and will open in 2014. Details were not announced.

Chicago — Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Old Navy and Carter’s have inked leases for space at The Mayfair Collection, a 270,000-sq.-ft. shopping center in Wauwatosa, Wis. Nordstrom Rack, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Ulta Beauty have also made lease commitments to the project.

HSA Commercial Real Estate, the developer, broke ground on the project in April. HSA Commercial is adaptively repurposing an obsolete warehouse development into The Mayfair Collection retail shopping center.

Weehawken, N.J. — The Swatch Group Ltd. has announced the expansion of its Tourbillon Boutique network into Seattle, Dallas and Las Vegas.

The Seattle location, in the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, features The Swatch Group Service Center. In Dallas, Tourbillon Boutique will open its first Texas location at NorthPark Center. In Las Vegas, the boutique will relocate to a 3,800-sq.-ft. space in The Shops at Crystals.

New York -- J.C. Penney Co. announced that activist investor and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has resigned from the board of directors of the company, effective Aug. 12. His resignation comes in the wake of a very public and heated campaign in which he called for the ouster of Penney interim CEO Myron Ullman and chairman Thomas Engibous.

RIVER GROVE, Ill. — Follett Corporation has named former Dick’s Sporting Goods executive Don Germano as president and chief operating officer of the Follett Higher Education Group. He replaces Tom Christopher, who announced plans to retire, effective August 30.

Christopher was president and chief operating officer of the Follett Higher Education Group for nearly 12 years.