Apparel

WASHINGTON — Tanna Dang, a boutique owner in Honolulu, Hawaii was awarded the top $25,000 prize in the National Retail Federation’s inaugural “This is Retail” video contest. Florida’s Kim Williams of The Polka Dot press came in second place and will take home $15,000 and Illinois’ Susan Kaufman will take home $10,000 for third place. Nearly 1 million votes were cast by the public through NRF’s Retail Means Jobs website to choose the contest winners.

New York -- J.C. Penney executives laid out further details of their strategy going forward during the chain’s quarterly conference call with investors. The call followed the release of J.C. Penney’s first quarter results, when it reported a worse-then-expected loss of $163 million, and a 19% drop in same-store sales.

J.C. Penney said it would launch a new private label apparel brand, jcp, for both men and women. The brand is set to debut in August.

City of Industry, Calif. -- Hot Topic reported net income in the first fiscal quarter of $3.8 million, compared with a net loss of $7.7 million for the year-ago period. The results include $12.4 million of expenses for the implementation of the strategic business changes and cost reduction plan.

Total sales for the first quarter ended April 28, 2012, increased 6.4% to $171.5 million compared to $161.3 million for the first quarter last year. Same-store sales rose 7.5%.

Austin, Texas -- Isis, the mobile commerce joint venture created by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless,  announced that Aeropostale, Champs Sports, Dillard’s, Foot Locker, Jamba Juice and Macy’s are among the first national merchants to join with Isis in advancing mobile commerce. The company also announced the first of its local merchant partners across Austin, Texas and Salt Lake City.

Greensboro, N.C. -- Tanger Outlets said Tuesday that the multi-million-dollar renovation of its newly acquired Ocean City property is nearing completion, with an unveiling slated for the end of May.

As part of Chain Store Age’s lead-up coverage to RECon 2012, to be held May 20-23 in Las Vegas, we talked with Jones Lang LaSalle’s Lew Kornberg about what his expectations are for the big real estate show. Visit JLL’s booth at RECon, Central Hall, C1001.

What are your expectations for RECon 2012 in terms of activity, attitude, priorities?

Chattanooga, Tenn. -- CBL & Associates Properties and Horizon Group Properties said Tuesday that construction will begin immediately on the second phase of The Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City.

The 28,000-sq.-ft. expansion is scheduled to open in November and will bring Columbia Sports, Ann Taylor Loft, Waterford, Kenneth Cole, Lucky Brand and more to the center.

Williamsburg, Va. -- Divaris Real Estate announced it has been appointed the exclusive leasing and management firm for The Marquis, located in Williamsburg, Va.

The Marquis is a 750,000-sq.-ft., regional power center. At its completion, The Marquis will be the largest retail development in Williamsburg, featuring specialty retailers and restaurants and several big-box retailers including Target, Kohl’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Best Buy and J.C. Penney.

Fort Meyers, Fla. -- Chico's FAS Inc. said Wednesday that its fiscal first-quarter net income rose a better-than-expected 17% to 53.6 million in the three months through April 28, compared with $45.9 million a year ago. The chain also bumped up its revenue outlook for the year.

Revenue rose 21% to $650.8 million, beating expectations, from $537.2 million a year ago. The company September acquisition of women's clothing chain Boston Proper added $33.7 million in sales during the quarter.

Hingham, Mass. -- The Talbots and Sycamore Partners extended the exclusivity period for the private equity firm's non-binding $214.6 million takeover offer to May 22.

Talbots had entered into an exclusivity agreement with Sycamore on May 5, which was due to expire on May 15.