Apparel

New York — The sale of the financially-beleaguered furniture retailer Robb & Stucky to liquidation firm Hudson Capital Partners of Massachusetts was approved Tuesday at a bankruptcy hearing in Tampa, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

Hudson Capital, in a joint venture with Hyperams LLC, offered the highest bid for the 96-year-old Fort Myers-based company, which operates 20 stores, mostly in Florida.

New York -- Dov Charney, the controversial founder and CEO of American Apparel, has been hit with his most serious lawsuit to date.  Charney, 42, who has previously dodged lawsuits claiming sexual harassment, as well as non litigious-claims about a sexually-charged work environment, is being sued for $250 million in damages for allegedly forcing a teen employee to perform sexual acts. 

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Department Stores on Wednesday is celebrating  the grand opening of nine new stores across seven states: Illinois, New York, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.  The chain plans to open a total of approximately 40 stores in 2011.

In addition,  Kohl’s continues to invest in its existing store base, remodeling approximately 100 stores in 2011, an 18% increase from 2010.

New York -- American Eagle Outfitters Inc. officially announced the retirement of its chief executive officer. The chain, which has seen its seen sales falter of late, also posted a 47% rise in profits for the fourth quarter on cost-cutting.

American Eagle said its CEO James O'Donnell, 70, will stay with the retailer until a successor is chosen and will work through the transition period. O'Donnell started with American Eagle as its COO in 2000. He became co-CEO in 2002 and CEO in 2003. 

 York, Penn. -- Bon-Ton Stores Inc. said Wednesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit climbed 6%.

The department store chain said its net income rose to $85 million for the period ended Jan. 29, up from $80.3 million a year earlier.

Revenue edged up 1% to $1.03 billion from $1.02 billion.

Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 0.8%.

Bon-Ton Stores' annual net income was $21.5 million. In the prior year, it lost $4.1 million. 

PITTSBURGH -- Dick’s Sporting Goods on Tuesday showed why it is the nation’s leading sporting goods retailer by producing record profits and a 9.4% same-store sales increase that extended to six its string of consecutive quarterly comp gains.

WASHINGTON -- With Easter falling in late April this year, retailers are without a major holiday to boost March sales, and many are expecting weaker sales this month. However, thanks to St. Patrick's Day, which falls on March 17, retailers have the help of this micro-holiday.

DALLAS -- High-end apparel retailer Neiman Marcus has announced the launch of NMdaily, a fashion blog, which the company said will provide daily updates from "the front lines of the design world." 

"By producing a blog with a truly editorial point of view, we are creating a new and exciting online customer experience," said Wanda Gierhart, CMO Neiman Marcus Group. "NMdaily is central to our social media activities."

New York City -- Skechers USA has sued Sears Holdings Corp, alleging that the chain was selling footwear that infringed on some of Skechers brands, including its toning Shape-ups line, Reuters reported.

"While we value our relationship with Sears, their actions are causing us tremendous damage, and we simply cannot let any company, let alone a company the size of Sears, infringe on our most valuable intellectual property," Philip Paccione, general counsel of Skechers, said.

New York City -- Urban Outfitters will debut its newest brand, a bridal-shop concept called Bhldn, in early fall, in Houston. The company launched the brand online in February.

Urban Outfitters will open 50 to 55 stores in its current fiscal year, with the emphasis on growing its Free People brand and expansion of its namesake division and Anthropologie in Europe.