Apparel

Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas -- Venture Commercial has completed eight retail leases spanning 133,000 sq. ft. for landlords and tenants across North Texas.

“Significant leasing activity across the area in recent months shows that the DFW market is really heating up,” said Bryan Cornelius, a partner with Venture Commercial.

Virginia Beach, Va. -- Destination Maternity Corp. has leased 5,033 sq. ft. for a new flagship store in The Town Center of Virginia Beach, according to Divaris Real Estate.

Motherhood Maternity will close all of its locations in Southside Hampton Roads and move into the new Destination Maternity in September. The new store will carry all of the retailers concepts including Motherhood Maternity and A Pea in the Pod.

Wenatchee, Wash. -- Sportsman’s warehouse has signed a lease for a 49,000-sq.-ft. former Sears location at the Wenatchee Valley Mall in Wenatchee, Wash., according to Vintage Real Estate, which brokered the deal.

The new Sportsman’s will open in the spring of 2014. Sears will open a 10,813-sq.-ft. new format store in the mall.

New York -- U.S. retailers' June sales suggest overall consumer spending is improving, even though lower-end shoppers are holding back on nonessential purchases. Same-store sales increased 3.9% in June compared to the year-ago period, according to a preliminary tally of 12 retailers by the International Council of Shopping Centers. The association had expected a 3% to 3.5% increase.

Evansville, Ind. -- Value-priced footwear retailer Shoe Carnival will grand-open 12 stores in 11 different cities in July, bringing its store count to 367 stores in 32 states and Puerto Rico.

“We are excited to be growing rapidly across the country,” said Todd Beurman, senior VP marketing. New stores will open in: Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Lansing, Mich.; St. Louis; Greenville, N.C.; Cincinnati; Atlanta; Phoenix; Louisville, Ky.; and Grand Rapids, Mich.
 

Austin, Texas -- Research results released Thursday by coupon site Offers.com found that 67% of U.S. parents with school-aged children plan to spend more than $100 per child on back-to-school shopping this year.

Akron, Ohio -- Kay Jewelers said it has teamed with wedding site The Knot to launch an interactive wedding ring style quiz on Facebook.

As part of the promotion, consumers visit The Knot or Kay Jewelers on Facebook and answer questions about personal style and wedding ring preferences. Once complete, participants will receive their wedding ring personality types along with brand suggestions, and will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a pair of wedding bands from Kay.

New York -- Uniqlo is expanding its U.S. footprint. The Japanese apparel retailer, a division of Fast Company, will open 10 more U.S. stores this fall, in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and California.
 
The new locations, all in shopping centers, will bring the brand’s presence in the United States to a total of 17 sites.

The 10 new Uniqlo locations include:

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Most malls have food courts. Westfield Valley Fair Mall in California’s Silicon Valley has begun construction of a multi-million dollar dining terrace that will feature indoor and alfresco seating.

Where in Silicon Valley is the mall? It straddles the border between two noted Silicon Valley cities: Santa Clara and San Jose.

Dallas – Alliance Data Systems Corporation will provide private label credit card services for the US brands of Zale’s and acquire the existing card portfolio at a future date. In addition to providing private label credit card services for each Zale brand in the U.S., Alliance Data will provide turnkey credit marketing services to all Zale brands, including omni-channel and mobile services and technologies.