Apparel

New York — Adding to existing locations in Manhattan and Miami Beach, Big Drop, the women’s clothing retailer, has leased a third New York City storefront at 253 Columbus Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The new store has 650 sq. ft. on the ground floor plus a 400-sq.-ft. storage basement.

Winick Realty Group represented Big Drop in the long-term lease transaction. Parkway East Properties LLL, the landlord negotiated on its own behalf.

Big Drop’s other Manhattan stores are in SoHo and the Upper East Side.

New York — SL Green Realty Corp. and partner Jeff Sutton have announced the formation of a venture that has acquired a 49-year leasehold interest covering the entire retail portion of 650 Fifth Avenue. The transaction was completed with former U. S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen A. Roberts, the court-appointed federal monitor and interim trustee of the landlord, 650 Fifth Avenue Company.

O’Connor Capital Partners, a privately owned, independent real estate investment, development and management firm, has named Glenn J. Rufrano as chairman and CEO.

Rufrano was a founding partner of the O’Connor Group, the firm’s original incarnation, and has served on the board since 2010. He has also acquired a full partnership stake in the firm.  

Sidney, Neb. -- Cabela’s Inc. announced today plans to open a store in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

The 50,000-sq.-ft. is scheduled to open in 2015, and will be located in a new development being developed by Cordova Realty. It will be Cabela’s first location in the greater Atlantic Canada area.

By Lynn Hinderaker, [email protected]

The future is knocking on the door of hedge fund manager and owner of Sears, Eddie Lampert. His decision to split off Lands’ End and Sears Auto Center from the core Sears brand would have been a good decision in 2004, one year after he purchased the deteriorating retail brand. Today, given the monumental shift in online purchasing behavior that has changed all of retailing, Lampert’s move is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Atlanta -- QuantiSense, a provider of retail exception management software, announced that Christopher & Banks Corporation has licensed both QuantiSense Playbooks and QuantiSense Retail Business Intelligence to help automate the management of retail exceptions across its 598 stores in 44 states, as well as to provide the business analytic platform for their enterprise.

Thorofare, N.J. -- Shrink, comprised of shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud, organized retail crime and administrative errors, cost the retail industry more than $112 billion globally last year, and represented 1.4% of retail sales, on average, according to the 2012-2013 Global Retail Theft Barometer. In the United States, shrink came in at 1.5% of retail sales.

New York -- The Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers saga continues with reports that Men’s Wearhouse will review a previously rejected merger with Jos. A. Bank Clothiers.

Eminence Capital LLC, Men's Wearhouse largest single shareholder, said the retailer is still exploring its strategic options, including a possible merger with Jos. A. Bank, the Associated Press reported. The New York-based hedge fund has urged the retailer to quickly engage with Jos. A. Bank over the merger offer that Men's Wearhouse turned down in October.