Apparel

Sears is freshening up its offering through a new partnership.   The department store retailer now features the Regatta Great Outdoors collection in 11 New England-based stores. The brand, which is based in Manchester, England, features active, performance, outdoor, and leisure wear. This is the brand’s first U.S. retail store debut.  

Already navigating tumbling sales, Macy’s is preparing for even tighter margins.   At the company’s annual investor day, Macy’s CFO Karen Hoguet said that second-quarter gross margins are running about 1 percentage point below what they were last year. The company is slashing costs in a bid to maintain its earnings forecast, which it reaffirmed on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.  

In today’s digital world, creativity is just one skill needed for commercial success in the fashion industry. The art of design remains crucial, but leading designers are supplementing art with science – using digital technologies to connect with customers on both a hyper-local and hyper-personal level.  

GBT Realty purchased 11.7 acres of land in Kemah, Texas, with plans to build a 79,000-sq.-ft. shopping center, reported mySA, a San Antonio news site. Purchase price was $2.1 million.   According to GBT, the center is 92% leased. Committed tenants include Petco, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, and Ulta.    Located south of Houston on Trinity Bay, Kemah has just 2,000 residents, but draws tourists with a boardwalk and entertainment district containing carnival rides, restaurants, and shops.

Billabong has a new finance chief.   The board sports apparel retailer has named Jim Howell as CFO, effective June 12. He will replace Peter Myers, who has served in the role since January 2013. Howell has spent the last 10 years leading the finance and treasury division at luxury retailer Nordstrom. In this role, he oversaw significant cost management improvements, capital management and growth initiatives.  

A digitally native organic baby and toddler's clothing brand has opened its second brick-and-mortar location.    Monica + Andy has opened its first store in New York City, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The brand was launched online in 2014 by new mom Monica Royer, sister of Andy Dunn, co-founder of Bonobos, the online menswear brand that is rapidly growing its physical store footprint. It features clothing made of kid-friendly fabrics that are free of lead, phthalates and flame-retardants.  

BCBG Max Azria Group LLC is getting a shot at keeping its brand alive.  

A 50,000-sq.-ft. former Rite Aid store in what was not long ago a rough-and-tumble area of the South Bronx has sold for $17.5 million.   The buyer, an affiliate of ABCAPSTONE plans to redevelop the building — now occupied by a Salvation Army Family Store — into as much as 100,000 sq. ft. of retail space.  

It is the end of an era in retail. One of the most prominent — and legendary — chief executives in retail is stepping down.   Millard “Mickey” Drexler will step down after almost 15 years as J. Crew’s CEO as of July. He will continue in his role as chairman. Drexler is the former CEO of Gap Inc., which he built into a retail powerhouse. He was abruptly fired in 2002 by Gap founder Donald Fisher amid slumping sales and the chain's falling stock. (Prior to Gap, Drexler oversaw a turnaround of Ann Taylor.)

Duluth Holdings is losing its finance chief.    Mark DeOrio, the company’s CFO, will retire at the end of 2017. DeOrio will remain in his role until the next finance chief is appointed, and he will then assist with his successor’s transition until his retirement. DeOrio has held the role since August 2010. He also served as senior VP of operations from 2010 to January 2015.