Apparel

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears’ new 'Back to School, Back to You' campaign offers members of its Shop Your Way loyalty program the ability to communicate one-on-one with a store associate through the program’s mobile app or website. Associates respond directly to individual inquiries.

High-end department store Von Maur plans to open its 30th location on October 18 in Oklahoma City. The new location will be the company’s first in the state and will be part of the city’s Quail Springs Mall.

The new store will open in a space that used to house a Sears, and will undergo a complete facelift. Von Maur will create a brick façade on the exterior and sell brands like Brooks Brothers, Hugo Boss and Coach.

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity Corp. has stopped its pursuit of the United Kingdom’s Britain's Mothercare Plc chain after having two bid proposals rejected.

Fashionable new product assortments and innovative customers conveniences supported by clever marketing are being used by Sears and Kmart to entice parents and students this back-to-school season.

Brisbane, Calif. – Bebe Stores Inc. plans to roll out the digital experience management platform from Qubit. Qubit's technology helps marketers gain a deeper understanding of customer data to optimize the customer experience based on insights and intelligence.

Urban Outfitters has gone big — really big — in New York City, opening a 57,000-sq.-ft. “lifestyle center” store in Manhattan’s Herald Square area. The space, the brand’s largest location to date, is big on in-store shops and includes such extras as a hair salon, bookshop, coffee bar and photography shop (with a booth for printing Instagram snapshots). All this is featured along with Urban’s menswear, womenswear and home collections.

Once again, weak ammunition, shooting, optics and firearm sales at Cabela's caused comparable-store sales to slip 14.2%. But CEO Tommy Millner focused on positives, such as new store performance.

New York -- American Apparel Inc. announced  four new directors to its board, including the company’s first-ever female board member, Colleen Brown, a former CEO of Fisher Communications, and former Walgreens executive Joseph Magnacca, who took the reins as CEO of RadioShack last year.  

The other new directors are  David Glazek, a partner with hedge fund Standard General, which holds a nearly 44% stake in American Apparel, and Thomas J. Sullivan, a director of Media General.