Apparel

Middleton, Wis. -- American Girl, a division of Mattel, will open a store at Chesterfield Mall, in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield, Mo.

The 10,850-sq-.ft. American Girl store is slated to open in spring 2012.

Columbus, Ohio -- Victoria's Secret Direct said Thursday that former Giorgio Armani Corp. CEO Bridget Ryan-Berman has been named CEO of the Internet and catalogue division of Victoria's Secret and a subsidiary of Limited Brands.

Ryan-Berman replaces Pia Ferrario, who will remain as CEO through the holiday season and then transition into an advisory role with the company.

Ferrario joined Limited Brands in 1989 and was named CEO of Victoria's Secret Direct in 2007.

Walmart didn’t release a third-quarter same-store sales figure when it held a meeting with financial analysts on Wednesday, but it might as well have. Everything else the company’s senior executives said about the performance of the U.S. stores division indicated the nightmare that has been nine consecutive quarter of negative comps will end on Nov. 15 when quarterly results are reported.

Bossier City, La. -- Covington, La.-based Stirling Properties, developer and property manager of Stirling Bossier Shopping Center, in Bossier City, La., announced the addition of Old Navy, Ulta Beauty, Maurices, Mattress Firm, The Joint and GNC to the center’s tenant lineup.

Armonk, N.Y. -- Jewelry will be one of the brightest categories for U.S. retailers this holiday season, according to a new analytics-based forecast by IBM. Jewelry sales are set to hit $2.6 billion In November, up 7.7% over the year-ago period, IBM reported, and $5.4 billion in December, up 4% over last year.

NEW YORK — Gap executives reaffirmed its commitment to reducing square footage at home, aggressive international expansion and online growth during a presentation at Gap Global Creative Center in New York City. Gap also revealed that its online-only Piperlime division will explore a store concept next year and is testing men’s apparel.

Northbrook, Ill. -- StreetMac Asset Managers announced that an affiliate has purchased the Brazos Mall in Lake Jackson, Texas, and the Shawnee Mall in Shawnee, Okla., through a joint venture with an affiliate of Stamford, Conn.-based Five Mile Capital Partners. The seller was Lightstone Properties.

The two malls have a combined 1.14 million sq. ft. of leasable retail space. Terms were not disclosed. The acquisitions represent StreetMac’s inaugural purchases of retail malls in markets nationwide.

New York City -- Gap executives reaffirmed its commitment to reducing square footage at home, aggressive international expansion and online growth during a presentation at Gap Global Creative Center in New York City. Gap also revealed that its online-only Piperlime division will explore a store concept next year and is testing men’s apparel.