Apparel

Suffern, N.Y. -- Ascena Retail Group Inc. said Tuesday that CFO Armand Correia is retiring after 21 years with the company that is parent to Dressbarn, Justice and other brands.

Restaurant veteran Dirk Montgomery will succeed Correia, effective Jan. 16. Montgomery most recently served as EVP and chief value chain officer of Bloomin' Brands, which operates the Outback Steakhouse and Bonefish Grill chains.

New York -- Canadian yoga apparel retailer lululemon athletica will open a four-month pop-up location on Third Ave., between 66th and 67th Streets in Manhattan, according to Douglas Elliman's Retail Group.
 
The former site of a Uniqlo pop-up shop, the space is on a block-front shared by Thierry Rabotin, Bare Escentuals, Caché, Canyon Beachwear and Arden B.

The retailer’s flagship, located across the street from the pop-up site, is currently being renovated, and the temporary location will ensure a continued presence.

Austin, Texas -- After a successful pilot during the 2012 holiday season, Starmount announced Tuesday that Perry Ellis International complete a chainwide rollout of Starmount mobile selling solutions in the first quarter.

St. Louis -- Famous Footwear, a division of Brown Shoe Co., said Tuesday it has selected Cincinnati-based Empower MediaMarketing as its media agency of record.

Empower will work with Famous Footwear to reach its target customer, as well as to help drive sales online and in-store.
 
“The landscape of paid, owned and earned media continues to change, and Famous Footwear needs to make sure its marketing efforts are effective and efficient,” said Amy Rose, media manager, Famous Footwear.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Columbus, Ohio-based Glimcher Realty Trust announced Monday the acquisition of University Park Village, an open-air center located in Fort Worth, Texas.

The 173,220-sq.-ft. center is 97% occupied, generates sales of more than $800/sq. ft., and is tenanted by Apple, Anthropologie, J. Crew, Lululemon Athletica and Madewell, among others.

Glimcher purchased University Park Village for $105 million.

With all of the pre-holiday buzz and widely optimistic sales projections, anything other than a blockbuster 2012 holiday shopping season was bound to be a letdown. Few expected the numbers that came out just before Christmas: Both MasterCard and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) reported that sales for the holiday season at that point were up just 0.7%. This was far below the robust predictions that many analysts and observers made before the shopping season was underway (most often between 3%-6%).

New York -- Big M Inc., which operates Mandee and Annie Sez stores, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The New Jersey-based retailer cited the impact of Superstorm Sandy, which resulted in closures that affected its stores, corporate office and distribution center for more than a week. The company cited liabilities of between $50 million and $100 million, along with assets of the same amount.

Rockford, Mich. -- Wolverine Worldwide said Tuesday it will make several organizational moves to drive future growth and global brand building in the wake of its October 2012 acquisition of the Performance & Lifestyle Group.

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- American Apparel, which launched a new Oracle e-commerce platform in the fall, has continued to deliver an increase in e-commerce sales, with a more than 38% increase over the same period last year. December 2012 sales increased more than 59% over December 2011, with December coming in as the highest sales month in the history of the company’s online business.

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity Corp. reported Tuesday that revenue for the first quarter edged down to $135.3 million, from $136.4 million in the year-ago period. The results fell within internal expectations of $132.5 million to $136.5 million.

Same-store sales rose 1.9%.

The maternity apparel retailer said the decline in total revenue was due in large part to sales declines related to closing underperforming stores.