Apparel

Uniqlo has made its West Coast, opening a three-story, 29,000-sq.-ft. flagship in San Francisco.

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General has added several name brand items to its toy aisles this year.

“Offering our customers the name brand toys they want at great prices is a priority for Dollar General,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s EVP, division president and chief merchandising officer. “Shoppers will be delighted by the hot toys and classics that are in our stores this season.”

A few of the name brand toys featured at Dollar General include:

CHICAGO — PacSun has partnered with Lyons Consulting Group to upgrade both their e-commerce and mobile sites. 

Lyons Consulting Group migrated the site onto the more robust Demandware platform and added several custom features, including thirteen third party integrations such as Gigya Social Sign in and Visa V.Me. Through this process, lyonscg produced a more flexible front-end, improved content manageability, all while creating a fun, engaging, and intuitive shopping experience when browsing either the ecommerce or mobile sites.

Chicago -- PacSun announced Monday it has partnered with Lyons Consulting Group to upgrade its e-commerce and mobile sites. PacSun said it had outgrown its previous platform and needed a more scalable solution in order to support its growth and provide the shopping capabilities that their shoppers have come to expect.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation reported Monday that September retail sales – excluding autos, fuel and restaurants – increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4%, thanks to strong showings from clothing and electronics stores.

Unadjusted, retail sales gained 2.1% year over year.

Los Angeles -- Research results released Monday by PriceGrabber – augmenting its previously released winter holiday shopping survey – revealed that more than half (54%) of consumers plan to spend $500 or more on gifts this season, slightly higher than 2011.

In a demonstration of online channel strength, 75% of respondents selected online retailers when asked to select the types of stores they plan to shop for holiday gifts. Discount stores followed with 74%, and traditional department stores came in third place with 49%.

Chattanooga, Tenn. -- CBL & Associates Properties said Monday it will renovate and redevelop its Northgate Mall property in Chattanooga, Tenn., with the first phase adding Ross Dress for Less and Michael’s Arts & Crafts, as well as redeveloping the adjacent T.J. Maxx-anchored community center.

Construction will begin on the associated center in early 2013 with completion anticipated in fall 2013.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Monday by the Commerce Department showed that retail sales in the U.S. climbed more than anticipated in September, boosted by unexpected increases in household spending.

Sales advanced 1.1% in September, on the heels on a 1.2% increase in August that was the biggest since Oct. 2010. The median forecast of 77 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 0.8% rise in September.

New York -- Learn how Chico's FAS is staying ahead of the information evolution and providing personalized customer interactions at a Chain Store Age webinar on Thursday, Oct. 18 ( 2 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. PT). Bob Murray, architect of Chico's Store Technology, will discuss such top-of-mind imperatives as loyalty, mobile, and seamless digital connections with the customer in the omni-channel market space.

Boston -- Grossman Development Group (GDG), a boutique real estate development firm led by Howard Grossman, announced that it has begun site work for the 330,000-sq.-ft. Granite Ridge Marketplace, a 57-acre shopping center development located in Rochester, N.H.

The development, which boasts a trade area of 198,000 people, will feature a mix of anchor retail, junior anchor retail, small stores, restaurants and entertainment. It is located on Route 11, the gateway to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire and close to the Maine border.