Apparel

Exton, Pa. -- Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) said Tuesday that Francesca’s Collections has opened at its Exton Square Mall property, in Exton, Pa.

The arrival of the 1,300-sq.-ft. Francesca’s store will soon be joined by Teavana, which is set to open a 1,000-sq.-ft. store this summer.

Beachwood, Ohio -- DDR Corp. announced Monday that, during the first quarter, it acquired two prime assets in Dallas and in Oakland, Calif., for $81 million.

Also during the quarter, DDR disposed of $46 million of non-prime assets, including $8 million of non-income producing assets.

St. Clairsville, Ohio -- Youngstown, Ohio-based Cafaro Co. said Wednesday that MC Sports will debut in the area with a new store at Cafaro’s Ohio Valley Mall, in St. Clairsville, Ohio, in July.

The new store will be located next to Sears, occupying nearly 23,000 sq. ft. of retail space.

Burlington, Mass. -- Demandware said Wednesday that Avenue Stores has selected the Demandware Commerce platform to support its omni-channel vision.  

Avenue Stores signed with Demandware in first quarter 2013.

Avenue needed a scalable and comprehensive digital commerce platform to realize its omni-channel vision, and will also utilize Demandware’s web design capabilities to optimize its sites for mobile and tablet commerce, as well as explore opportunities to integrate digital into its brick-and-mortar stores.  

LOS ANGELES — The majority of Americans are planning to spend their tax refund. 

 According to PriceGrabber’s poll of 5,655 U.S. online shopping consumers, 24% anticipate a bigger refund than last year and 26% expect about the same amount. Thirty-two percent anticipate receiving less compared to 2012, and 18% aren't sure how much money they will receive.

HAMPSTEAD, Md., — JoS. A. Bank Clothiers reported that its net sales for the fiscal year were $1.05 billion, representing a 7.1% gain as compared with net sales of $979.9 million in fiscal year 2011. Comparable-store sales decreased 0.5% during fiscal year 2012, while direct marketing sales increased 22.7%. Combined comparable-store and Internet sales in fiscal year 2012 increased 2% when compared with fiscal year 2011.

New York -- A Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday revealed that embattled J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson saw his compensation package plummet 97% to about $1.9 million in 2012.

Johnson received a base salary of $1.5 million, up from his partial-year salary of $375,000 in 2011, but did not receive stock or option awards in 2012. That compares with a stock award worth $52.7 million on the date it was granted in 2011, when Johnson was named CEO.

Hampstead, Md. -- Jos. A. Bank Clothiers reported Wednesday that net income for the fiscal year ended Feb. 2 slid to $79.7 million, from $97.5 million in the prior year.

Annual sales rose 7.1% to a record $1.05 billion, from $979.9 million. Same-store sales decreased 0.5%.

Jos. A. Bank had warned that net income for fiscal year 2012 was expected to be approximately 20% lower than net income for fiscal year 2011.