Apparel

The U.S. Census Bureau released a report showing an increase of 0.6% in retail trade sales for June when compared to May. Sales were up 6% when compared to June 2012.

The figures are adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, and exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants.

Houston -- Mens Wearhouse estranged founder George Zimmer is noticeably absent from the chain’s latest commercial, which launched in print and broadcast on July 8.

According to a Reuters report, the new ad focuses on the company's National Suit Drive, an annual charity event that donated suits to unemployed men who are looking to get back in the workforce. Zimmer and his signature phrase — "You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it," — are nowhere to be found.

Winston-Salem, N.C. -- HanesBrands said it has tapped PetSmart former chairman and CEO Robert Moran to serve on its board of directors, expanding the number of directors to 10.

Moran, 62, retired from PetSmart in June. He had served as CEO since 2009.

Houston -- CBRE’s national retail investment group has arranged the sale of Sheldon Forest Shopping Center in Channelview, Texas, east of Houston, on behalf of Weingarten Realty Investors.

Gerland’s Food Fair anchors the 97,380-sq.-ft. center. Major tenants include Family Dollar and Burke’s Outlet. Both Phase I and II of the center are 100% occupied.

Capcor Partners purchased the property for an undisclosed price.

New York – Online apparel retailer Bonobos is automating its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure with the Opscode Hosted Chef solution. Using Hosted Chef and its Knife EC2 command-line plug-in for AWS, Bonobos' engineering team can now manage more than 150 cloud servers and ensure 100% uptime for its website operations. The retailer is automating processes including configuration management and application delivery, as well as responding to spikes in customer traffic and orchestrating application updates.

Fremont, Calif. – A suit can help a man feel more attractive, confident, and successful in professional situations as well social ones. According to the findings of a new national survey of more than 1,000 adult males from Men’s Wearhouse and Kelton Research, a suit also has a positive impact on how a man is viewed by others.

Following are highlights from the study results.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. retail and food services sales totaled $422.8 billion last month, according to new advance estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. This represents a 0.4% increase from $421.2 billion in the prior month, and a more substantial 5.7% increase from $399.9 billion in the same month last year.

New York -- Saint Petersburg Global Trade House, the oldest Russian book, music video, toy and souvenir retailer in the United States, has signed a lease for its first Manhattan location — in the NoMad neighborhood, according to Winick Realty Group, which represented the retailer.

The 10-year lease includes a 1,051-sq.-ft. ground floor and a 653-sp.-ft. mezzanine. The landlord, an entity owned and managed under a partnership controlled by The Feil Organization, was represented in-house.

New York -- Foot Locker has completed the acquisition of Runners Point Group, a specialty athletic store and online retailer based in Recklinghausen, Germany.

With 200 stores located principally in Germany under the Runners Point and Sidestep banners and online business, Runners Point Group will boost Foot Locker’s European store count to 800 and add $254 million to the company’s European revenues of more than $1 billion.