Apparel

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. reported Thursday that profit for the third quarter dropped 36% to $193 million, compared with $303 million a year earlier, as the retailer continued a deep discounting trend and encountered rising production costs. Still, results beat analysts’ expectations.

New York City -- Ann Inc., formerly known as Ann Taylor, reported a 33.4% rise in quarterly net income to $32.3 million, beating analysts’ estimates.

The company’s performance was boosted by strong demand for its Loft brand, where same-store sales rose 7.9%. Same-store sales rose 2.5% at Ann Taylor. Comp-sales were up 45.8% in the Ann Taylor e-commerce channel and 1.8% in the Ann Taylor Factory channel. Total same-store sales were up 5.5%.

Every year, in December, Chain Store Age examines the northeastern region — New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island — and, in 2011, there appears to be some positive momentum.

Retail real estate executives will tell you that we’re not completely out of the woods yet, but the industry is certainly inching in the right direction.

Washington, D.C. -- The NRF Foundation, the research and education arm of the National Retail Federation, has announced the top 10 retailers for excellent customer service selected by shoppers in the seventh annual NRF Foundation/American Express Customers’ Choice survey.

The survey, which asked 9,374 shoppers which retailer provides the best customer service, was conducted by BIGresearch.

According to shoppers, the ten finalists for customer service, in alphabetical order, are:

Foothill Ranch, Calif. -- The Wet Seal reported Thursday that net income for the third quarter rose to $3.7 million, from $2.6 million a year earlier.

Sales increased to $152.1 million from $146.4 million. Same-store sales declined 0.9% on a consolidated basis.

The company had six store openings and two store closings at Wet Seal and four store openings and no store closings at Arden B during the third quarter. It expects to have 22 net Wet Seal store openings and three net Arden B store openings for the full year.
 

From dazzling LCD/LED video displays to rotating mannequins to staircases with color-changing LED lights, Uniqlo’s Manhattan flagship is massive in scope and bold in design.

The three-level, 89,000-sq.-ft. store is the largest Uniqlo outlet in the world. It’s a big store for a company with big ambitions: Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing Co., the world’s fourth-largest apparel retailer, is targeting $50 billion in global sales by 2020.

If retailers want to survive in the new economy and volatile marketplace, their focus needs to be on the customer and providing the best service and shopping experience possible. Increasingly, mobile strategies are helping them achieve this goal.

Seattle -- Nordstrom said Friday it will shutter its underperforming University Mall store in Orem, Utah. The 122,000-sq.-ft. store is slated to close on Feb. 24.

The store, which opened March 29, 2002, didn’t perform to company standards, according to Nordstrom.