Apparel

FREEPORT, Maine — Outdoor gear and apparel multichannel merchant L.L.Bean is revving up its Bootmobile and hitting the road as part of the company’s 2013 Outdoor Discovery Tour, which encourages people to enjoy the outdoors.  

H&M is finally tackling the online market, and plans to launch an e-commerce site in the U.S. in August.

The timing of the move for a brand synonymous with affordable fashion is opportune because it coincides with the heart of the back-to-school shopping season and sets the stage for the company to drive online sales during the holiday season.

Gerald Evans was named chief operating officer at HanesBrands after serving as co-COO since 2011.

Traditional craftsmanship and the latest in technology help make for the perfect fit at The Left Shoe, a new luxury men’s footwear retail concept from Finland. 

Burlington, N.J. -- Burlington Coat Factory credited the unusually cold winter experienced by many parts of the country, which dampened the first quarter results of many retailers, for helping to drive its strong financial performance during the first quarter.

The retailer reported net income of $11.1 million, a substantial improvement from $842,000 in the first quarter of the prior year, primarily driven by sales growth and improved gross margin rate which was in turn partially offset by increased selling and administrative expenses.

Chicago -- Englewood Construction announced its retail group has begun work on the Chicago market’s first Ports 1961, a luxury apparel retailer, in Rosemont, Ill.
 
“Ports 1961 chose to enter the Chicago area by locating within Fashion Outlets of Chicago,” said William Di Santo, president of Lemont, Ill.-based Englewood Construction. “The retail world is anxiously awaiting the August 1 opening of this world-class fashion outlet mall in Rosemont.”

Atlanta -- Shenandoah Plaza, a 146,121-sq.-ft. neighborhood center in Newnan, Ga., has been sold to the Georgia Capital Group by RCG-Newnan. Big Lots, Goodwill and Dollar General anchor the center.

The Atlanta office of SRS Real Estate Partners represented RCG-Newnan in the transaction.
 

Toronto -- Hudson's Bay Co. said Tuesday it has changed the structure of its senior management, giving two highly regarded veteran retailers greater responsibilities. The company is moving current president Bonnie Brooks to the vice chairman seat and putting in Liz Rodbell – recently minted executive VP and chief merchant – as president.  Both Brooks and Rodbell are highly regarded retail

Dallas -- Alliance Data Systems Corp. said it has signed a long-term renewal and expansion agreement to continue providing private label credit card services for Orchard Brands, a multichannel retailer of apparel and home products including the Blair, Haband, Old Pueblo Traders and Bedford Fair banners.

BURLINGTON, N.J. — Burlington Coat Factory was the beneficiary of an unseasonably cool first quarter that resulted in soft sales at some other retailers.

The company’s net sales increased 8.4% to nearly $1.1 billion for the quarter from $982 million for the quarter ended April 28, 2012. Comparative store sales increased 3.4%.