Apparel

Wolverine Worldwide has appointed Gina R. Boswell to the company's board of directors.

Boswell is EVP, personal care, for global food, personal care and household products company Unilever. She has held numerous senior leadership positions with other leading global companies, including Avon Products, Ford Motor Company and Estée Lauder Companies.

Sydney, Australia – Australian apparel retailer General Pants is rolling out interactive kiosks fusing music, fashion and social media to create a shopping experience to guide, inform and entertain consumers via Apple iPad device displays. The launch is the result of more than six months of development to create an omni-channel platform that merges the online and offline shopping experience.

New York -- J.C. Penny will eliminate the jcp menswear brand and reduce the assortments in its Joe Fresh, Michael Graves and Martha Stewart lines, Reuters reported. All four brands were introduced by former CEO Ron Johnson. Penney plans to use the resulting space to emphasize its exclusive private-label brands.

Retail sales in November increased a better-than-expected 0.7% seasonally-adjusted month-to-month, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The figure includes categories such as automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants.

Analysts were expecting sales to rise 0.6% in last month. The latest retail sales numbers were 4.7% above November 2012 numbers.

The recession took a major toll on the retail real estate sector but, despite waffling consumer confidence, the sector continues to improve. Retail now accounts for 19% of total U.S. investment volume year-to-date 2013.

Retail experts from Jones Lang LaSalle predict four key forces that will drive an increase in the retail transaction market during 2014:

1. Strengthening Fundamentals  

In a first-of-its-kind professional sports league shop-in-shop concept in a major retail chain, Dick’s Sporting Goods and the National Hockey League launched three NHL branded shops in Dick’s locations in Lombard, Ill., Cranberry Township, Pa., and West Nyack, N.Y.

The 400-sq.-ft. shops stock a variety of men’s, women’s and children’s lifestyle apparel, jerseys, headwear, outerwear and accessories featuring top NHL-licensed brands. The assortment includes authentic and lifestyle home team merchandise to cater to a wide range of fans.

Charlotte, N.C. — A 75,000-sq.-ft. Belk will anchor the Juban Crossing lifestyle center in Livingston Parish, La., in the fall of 2014. Construction of the $7 million store will begin in February.

Men’s Wearhouse reported declining net income during the third quarter of fiscal 2013 even as net sales improved.

Net income dropped about 22%, from $48.8 million in the third quarter of the prior fiscal year to $38.2 million.