Apparel

Chicago - Regency Centers Corporation is starting construction on a new 40,000-sq.-ft.Whole Foods Market. The new store, located 25 miles from downtown Chicago in Schererville, Ind., is projected to open in the fall of 2015, joining existing tenants Homegoods, Gordmans, Ross Dress for Less, DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse and many others.

Niwot, Colo. -- Claire Fahie-Conley, VP of U.S. retail for Reebok, has been appointed Crocs' VP of retail for North America. In this role, Fahie-Conley will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the retail footprint in North America, including the entire fleet of full-price and outlet stores.

When Cypress Equities completes its plan for updating the interior and exterior of Lloyd Center, located in the heart of the Lloyd District adjacent to downtown Portland, Oregon, it will have executed a vision for a comprehensive redevelopment of the historic shopping center.

The circa 1960 mall – the largest of its kind when it opened – will receive the following improvements:

Katy, Texas - Academy Sports + Outdoors will open four stores in the Orlando, Florida, area in 2015. The four stores will be located in Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Waterford Lakes and Melbourne.

Academy Sports + Outdoors plans to open four new stores next year in Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Waterford Lakes and Melbourne. Although the sports, outdoor and lifestyle retailer is no stranger to Florida — with an established presence in Jacksonville, Pensacola and Tallahassee — these four new stores are the first in the Orlando area.

In addition, Academy has entered into a multi-year agreement with the Univ. of Central Florida.

East Rutherford, N.J. - Mark Rickoff, travel retail professional with more than 40 years of experience, has joined Hudson Group as VP business development. Rickoff will have responsibility for building Hudson's business relationships in both new and existing markets.

New York - A majority of parents plan to spend more on their children's back-to-school shopping this year, driven by rising costs or necessity rather than greater spending power. According the Accenture Back-to-School Shopping Survey, which polled 500 U.S. parents of children entering kindergarten through college, nearly all (89%) plan to do most of their back-to-school shopping in a physical store, though many will still use online to browse and search, or "webrooming."

Chicago – Retail experts from professional services and investment management firm JLL are managing two new shopping centers. JLL has been retained by Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. to manage Beverly Connection, a 348,285-sq.-ft. shopping mall in Los Angeles, and also been retained by 759 Ventures LLC to manage the 58,280-sq.-ft. 2424 North Davidson Street center in Charlotte, North Carolina.