Apparel

PARIS — Gap Inc. announced the opening of its first Banana Republic store on Avenue des Champs Élysées in Pais, France. According to the company, the 15,952-sq.-ft. space will house the brand’s women’s and men’s collections and represents the most contemporary expression of the brand globally.

Buffalo, N.Y. -- Lifestyle brand New Era said it has opened its eleventh global flagship store, located in the West Hollywood shopping district of Los Angeles.

The brand’s first West Coast retail space joins current U.S. locations in New York, Chicago and Atlanta. The 3,300-sq.-ft. store will house licensed and New Era branded headwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and kids.

New York City -- Saks Fifth Avenue announced Thursday a redesign of the SaksPOV website.

SaksPOV presents a point of view from Fifth Avenue on fashion, culture and art, and the site features robust multimedia content, designer features, Saks brand coverage and lifestyle pieces. SaksPOV launched initially in December 2010.

“We will use SaksPOV as an outlet to engage with our customers and as a portal for our fashion lifestyle content,” said Denise Incandela, CMO and president of Saks Direct.
 

New York City -- By all reports, the ICSC New York deal-making conference, held Dec. 5 and 6 in New York City, delivered what the retail and shopping center industries were waiting for: A sense of forward progress.

Chain Store Age heard mostly positive comments from the show, such as “I haven’t seen this much deal action since 2006,” from one happy retail broker in the aisles of the New York Hilton meeting space. Mall developers unveiled redevelopment plans, and social media innovations and rollouts were the theme of the conference.

New York City -- Forever 21 signed an agreement Tuesday to open a flagship in Beijing, China, one part of a plan by the fast-fashion retailer to expand into the world’s largest emerging consumer market, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles-based chain will open a 24,000-sq-.ft. store in a multi-story mall located in Beijing’s central shopping district, Wangfujing, with additional stores set to open in Shanghai and Hong Kong, the report said.

New York City -- Consumers and their smartphones are becoming inseparable when it comes to shopping, according to a survey by Verve Wireless, a mobile advertising company, which found that over 60% of respondents use their smartphone for shopping one or more times each month.

The top three product categories shopped for on smartphones are electronics (51%), entertainment (50%), books (45%), closely followed by clothing (38%) and automotive (21%), the survey revealed.

In other findings:

Well, another Black Friday has come and gone. And, much to the surprise of many (myself included), it did so with a bang. General consensus is that the Black Friday sales bonanza was a rousing success, and the numbers certainly support that: ShopperTrak reported that Black Friday sales increased 6.6% over the 2010 numbers, with a record-breaking $11.4 billion in purchases. More people were out and about — foot traffic reports show an increase of about 5% over last year, which is good news for the brick and mortar guys.

Anaheim, Calif. -- Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. reported Wednesday that losses widened in the third quarter to $17.6 million, from $7.1 million a year earlier. The decline was due in large part to charges associated with store closures.

Paris -- Gap Inc. announced Thursday the opening of its first Banana Republic store in France, located in Paris on Avenue des Champs Élysées.

The 15,952-sq.-ft. space will house the brand’s women’s and men’s collections. “We are thrilled to open our first Banana Republic store in France -- a brand-building flagship in Paris -- and reach yet another important milestone for our international growth strategy,” said Stephen Sunnucks, president, International, Gap Inc.

Suffern, N.Y. -- Ascena Retail Group said Thursday it has appointed Jeff Gerstel as president of Dressbarn, and named George Goldfarb as president of its Maurices brand, both effective immediately.

The new executives will report to David Jaffe, president and CEO of Ascena Retail Group.

Gerstel joined Dressbarn in 2006 as senior VP operations and most recently served as executive VP and COO.

Goldfarb joined Maurices in 1985, was named CFO in 2003, and most recently was its executive VP and COO.