Apparel

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- HSN has appointed Matthew Rubel, senior advisor with TPG Capital, to its board of directors.

Rubel previously served as chairman, president and CEO of Collective Brands, where he worked from 2005-2011. Before that, his executive roles included serving as president and CEO of Cole Haan from 1999 to 2005, as well as serving as executive VP of J. Crew Group and CEO of Popular Club Plan.

Dallas -- PeopleAnswers and New York & Company announced a software licensing agreement for the specialty apparel chain with more than 500 stores nationwide to use the PeopleAnswers HR-focused business solution to recommend employee candidates who can guide their customers to make smart fashion purchase decisions.

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys "R" U widened its loss in the second quarter on lower sales at its stores in the United States and Europe. The company reported a loss of $113 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $36 million.

Net sales for the quarter, ended August 3, dropped 6.9% to $2.38 billion. Same-store sales declined 3.5% in the U.S. and 3.8% abroad. The retailer attributed the decline primarily to decreases in the juvenile and entertainment (which includes electronics, video game hardware and software) categories.

Chicago -- Retail sales are forecast to rise 2.4% during the holiday season of November and December while total retail traffic will decrease 1.4% as compared to the year-ago period, according to ShopperTrak, a leading provider of shopper analytics. The company also notes that retailers have less time to capture peak holiday spending: There are only 25 days lie between Black Friday (Nov. 29) and Christmas this year, compared to 31 days in 2012. And unlike last year, consumers have only four (not five) full weekends to shop.

New York -- Foot Locker, Inc. is introducing Six02.com, the e-retail extension of its Six:02 stores aimed at women. In addition to offering a full assortment of women’s athletic apparel and products, the site features the Get Fit Guide, a custom online tool to lead customers through the product offerings to find the perfect fit, style, and product based on preferred workout activity and body shape.

New York -- Private-equity firm Sycamore Partners disclosed through a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday that an affiliate, Hummingbird LLC, had taken an 8% stake in Aeropostale.

Sycamore through its Hummingbird LLC unit, bought about 6.3 million shares of Aeropostale, according to the filing. That would make it the retailer’s fourth-largest shareholder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Toronto -- Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC) has appointed Marigay McKee, chief merchant of Harrods, as the future president of Saks Fifth Avenue. The appointment follows the news that Saks chairman and CEO Stephen Sadove and president and chief merchant Ronald Frasch will leave the company once it is acquired by Hudson's Bay.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th plans to open a new store in Aventura, Fla., on Sept. 20.

The store will be located in Town Center Aventura developed in partnership with Turnberry Media and will be the third Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th location in Miami. The 28,000-sq.-ft. layout includes an open floor plan, moveable fixtures and bright lighting.