Apparel

New York -- Marvin S. Traub, Bloomingdale’s president and CEO for 22 years, died Wednesday at age 87. Traub had suffered from bladder cancer.

Traub is credited with turning the Bloomingdale’s Manhattan flagship – at Lexington and 59th – into a showcase. He started as a merchandising manager in 1962, and was named president in 1969.

New York -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services is further lowering its credit rating on J.C. Penney Co., attributing the move to a continuing weak performance.

J.C. Penney’s corporate credit rating has been lowered to "B+" from "BB-." The junk rating is four notches below investment grade. The move marks the second downgrade from S&P since mid-May.
 

Washington, D.C. -- Columbia, S.C.-based Edens said Wednesday that its new mixed-use development Mosaic will open this September in Washington, D.C.

A partnership between New York designer Liz Lange and Target has contributed to a transformation of the maternity wear market over the past decade, according to Target’s hometown newspaper the Star Tribune.

A recent article on the partnership and its success quoted Lange and even got SVP Trish Adams to hold still for a photo shoot at a downtown Minneapolis store.

The holiday hype has begun, and Target this week launched one of the first salvos, announcing an innovative partnership with 24 designers and the upscale department store chain Neiman Marcus.

Having past the calendar’s mid-point, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at the most viewed stories of the year to date on Chainstoreage.com. (Based on the results, it’s clear that J.C. Penney is shaping up as THE story of 2012.) Here are the Top 10 stories of the first six months:

New York -- Abercrombie & Fitch plans a big share buyback to appease investors, the New York Post reported, and is also likely to cut back on its aggressive expansion plans in Europe.

The report, which quoted unnamed “insiders,” said the chain is likely to announce its plans on or before its next quarterly earnings report in mid-August.

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity said its third-quarter revenue fell 5.3% to $138.8 million. Wall Street had expected $146.4 million. The retailer cut its third-quarter earnings forecast, citing weaker-than-expected sales.

Same-store sales fell 2.4%.
 

Seattle -- Tommy Bahama has partnered with FiftyOne Global Ecommerce, a provider of global e-commerce services to U.S. retailers, to immediately expand the Tommy Bahama’s international reach by delivering goods to 100 countries around the globe.

Lexington, Ky. – Tarrytown, N.Y.-based DLC Management Corp. sad that Half Price Books will open a new store at Fayette Place, located in Lexington, Ky.

The 8,976-sq.-ft. junior anchor will join Marshalls, Shoe Carnival, Pier1 Imports, Outback Steakhouse and Dollar Tree in the neighborhood shopping center.

It will be the second Half Price Books location in the Lexington community.