Apparel

Hong Kong -- A Tuesday report by Bloomberg said that J. Crew will open its first Asia store – in Hong Kong – as early as 2013. CEO Millard “Mickey” Drexler told the news service that the retailer is also seeking sites in Beijing and Shanghai.

“We feel that we’re ready to go international,” said Drexler. “Going international is a strong learning curve and it could distract us from building our business in the United States, but we feel that the time is right now.”

I’ll say this for Ron Johnson: He has turned staid J.C. Penney into the most talked-about retailer in the nation. The company accounted for five of the 10 most-viewed stories on this website in the first half of 2012 (see story). And industry analysts and consultants can’t stop speculating on the chain’s fortunes, in print, on the web and on television.

Walmart and Target should see an influx of parents in the coming months, as both retailers topped the list of where consumers plan to do most of their back-to-school shopping this year, according to The NPD Group.

NPD asked the the open-end question:  “Where do you plan to do most of the back to school shopping for your child(ren)?" Out of 1,760 mentions of retailers where parents plan to do back to school shopping on behalf of their kids, Walmart secured 36% of them, followed by Target at 20%.

NEW YORK — Gap has launched its Shine On campaign, which features a ballerina, comedian, DJ, violinist and anti-bullying advocate alongside the winners of Gap’s sixth annual casting call contest.

Pittsburgh -- First Insight, which provides predictive analytics generated from online consumer engagements, announced an agreement with The Limited. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The First Insight solution uses online social engagement tools to gather real-time preference, pricing and sentiment data on new products. This information is filtered through First Insight’s predictive analytic models to determine which products present the greatest opportunity.

New York -- Lower cotton costs will boost the earnings of US retail apparel companies during the coming back-to-school season, according to a report by Moody's Investors Service.

The report, "Back to School: Lower Cotton Costs, Gas Prices Set Stage for Higher 3Q Earnings,” notes that for the third quarter overall, Moody's expects the apparel-makers' growth in earnings to outpace their growth in sales.

New York -- Sycamore Partners extended its tender offer to buy The Talbots Inc. to Aug. 2. It is the second extension given by Sycamore to the retailer.

The private equity firm said in May that it would buy Talbots for $193.3 million. The tender offer was previously scheduled to expire at 5 p.m. ET on July 27.

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers, Inc. has officially broken ground on its new Taubman Prestige Outlets Chesterfield project by hosting a groundbreaking ceremony on July 27.

As part of the ceremony, Taubman revealed a variety of store names that will make their debuts at the new outlet mall, among them Banana Republic Factory Store, Gap Outlet, J. Crew Factory, Brooks Brothers Factory Store, 2b Bebe, American Eagle Outfitters - Off Campus, and Sunglass Hut.

HAMILTON, BERMUDA — Specialty retail jeweler, Signet Jewelers, has named a Procter & Gamble executive to its board of directors.

Virginia Drosos, group president global beauty, skin, cosmetics and personal care for Procter & Gamble, who will retire from this position effective Sept. 1, joined the Signet board on July 25.

PLANO, Texas — When JCPenney first announced its “fair and square” pricing strategy back in January with a great deal of hoopla and fanfare -- complete with a NYC media event attended by 700 people -- there was much hope that former Apple executive CEO Ron Johnson and then president Michael Francis, formerly at Target, would be able to bring some of their retail magic to the stagnant retailer.