Apparel

Washington, D.C. -- Retail sales rose 0.5% in April after a 0.9% increase in March, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. It was the tenth straight increase and came as consumers spent more on gasoline, clothing and autos in April.

Much of the gain in April, however, came from a surge in gasoline and food prices. Excluding a 2.7% jump in gasoline sales, the increase was a much smaller 0.2%.

Grocery stores sales jumped 1.5% -- triple the March increase. That partly reflected higher food prices.

New York City -- Victoria’s Secret will begins construction on a multi- million dollar renovation of its store in Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas in late May.

Construction will take approximately three-months to complete. The newly renovated 7,722-sq.-ft. store will serve as a prototype for Victoria’s Secret, featuring various design elements not found at any of its other Las Vegas locations. 

Cincinnati -- Macy’s first-quarter earnings soared and easily beat Wall Street predictions on rising sales, tight expense controls and its efforts to tailor merchandise by region. The department store operator is doubling its quarterly dividend and raising its full-year earnings and sales outlook.

Macy’s posted net income of $131 million for the quarter that ended on April 30, nearly six times higher than the $23 million it reported a year earlier.

Purchase, N.Y. -- Excluding auto sales, total retail sales in April 2011 grew by 8.8% year-over-year, stronger than March’s growth rate, and substantially higher than the average 7.1% year-to-year growth rate of the previous quarter, according to MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail and service sales.

Everett. Wash. -- Zumiez CFO Trevor Lang is leaving the retailer so that he can move back to Atlanta.

Lang's departure takes effect on June 1, Zumiez said late Tuesday.

Zumiez said it is conducting a search for Lang's successor.

Dallas -- Zale Corp. announced the company’s CFO, Matt Appel, has been appointed as chief administrative officer. He will continue to serve as CFO.

Appel will be responsible for real estate, supply chain and logistics, merchandise planning and allocation, information technology, warranty, repair and credit products, as well as the ongoing management of Zale’s finance and control functions.

SECAUCUS, N.J. — The Children's Place Retail Stores search for someone to oversee its finance and operations appears to have come to an end as the company has announced the appointment of Eric Bauer as COO. He will report to Jane Elfers, president and CEO, and will be responsible for supply chain, planning and allocation, store operations, finance, information technology and real estate.

Secaucus, N.J. -- The Children's Place Retail Stores announced the appointment of Eric Bauer as COO. He will be responsible for supply chain, planning and allocation, store operations, finance, information technology and real estate.

Bauer most recently he spent eight years with The Gap, culminating in his appointment as executive VP brand operations COO, for Gap North America where he was responsible for finance, store operations, real estate, distribution, logistics, information technology and their Canadian operations.