Apparel

New York -- Britain’s Topshop is planning on increasing its U.S. presence. The fashion chain plans to open 10 additional stores in the United Stores over the next two years, according to the New York Daily News.
   
There are currently four U.S. Topshop stores, with the most recent being a flagship at The Grove in Los Angeles. The 25,000-sq.-ft. store carries the retailer's full range, including its Topman brand for men.

New York -- As shares of his company reached an all-time high, fashion designer and retailer Michael Kors will sell 3 million of his shares as part of a secondary offering of 25 million shares, according to a Tuesday regulatory filing.

Kors' ownership in Michael Kors Holdings Inc. will fall to about 4.8 million shares, or 2.4%, down from 3.9% after the sale.

CHICAGO — Fashion jewelry retailer Claire's Stores said that it expects to report a 13.4% spike in net sales to $493 million for the fourth quarter over the same period last year, thanks in part to an additional week of net sales and a comparable-store sales increase of 5.4%.

For the full year, Claire's expects to report net sales of $1.6 billion for fiscal 2012, an increase of 4.1%, compared with fiscal 2011.  

Consolidated same-store sales increased 1.8% for the fiscal year.

CHICAGO — Muhtar Kent, CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, Mindy Grossman, CEO of HSN Inc., and actress and activist Geena Davis will headline an all-star bill at the Network of Executive Women Executive Leaders Forum, July 23 to 25 in Los Angeles. More than 250 senior-level executives from the retail and consumer products industry are expected to attend the invitation-only event.

While I enjoy reading the annual sales predictions and yearly retail real estate outlook columns published each year, they often have a tendency to get bogged down in the details. When forecasting in the medium- to long-term, it’s often best to focus on the big-picture trends — an approach that not only avoids the all-too-common problem of missing the forest for the trees, but provides important insights about where the industry may be headed, not just in six or 12 months, but in six or 12 years.

Roswell, Ga. -- PGA Tour Superstore will open its second store on the West Coast, a 50,000-sq.ft, location in Irvine, Calif., later this year.

"We are excited to be expanding into Southern California, which encompasses one of the nation's most renowned golf areas in the country," said PGA Tour Superstore president and CEO Dick Sullivan.

With the addition of this store, the number of PGA Tour Superstores will increase nationwide to 17.

New York -- Simons, Canada’s eclectic and fashion-forward department store retailer, received top honors in Chain Store Age’s 31st annual Retail Store of the Year design competition. The company’s 118,000-sq.-ft. store in West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, Canada, was named Store of the Year. Designed by figure3, Toronto, Simons also was the winning entry in the department store category.

HUDSON, Ohio — Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores has named Riddianne Kline SVP chief marketing and merchandising officer.

In addition to retaining her current responsibilities overseeing both marketing and advertising for Jo-Ann, Kline will assume responsibility for the merchandising, product development and inventory management groups.

Apparel manufacturer, VF Corp. reported that its fourth quarter 2012 revenues rose 4% (5% in constant dollars) to a record $3 billion from $2.9 billion in the same period of 2011 driven by strength in the outdoor and action sports and sportswear coalitions, and its international and direct-to-consumer businesses. The sale of John Varvatos in April 2012 negatively impacted VF’s revenue growth by 1 percentage point in the fourth quarter.

SUFFERN, N.Y. — Ascena Retail Group, a leading specialty retailer offering clothing, shoes, and accessories for missy and plus-size women and tween girls, under the Justice, Lane Bryant, maurices, dressbarn and Catherines brands, has named Ronnie Robinson to the position of president Ascena Global Sourcing (AGS).