Apparel

The Michaels Companies, named Denise Paulonis as executive VP – CFO, effective Aug. 29. The appointment is part of the retailer’s previously announced CFO succession plan.   Paulonis, currently senior VP – finance, succeeds Chuck Sonsteby, vice chairman and CFO. He will continue to serve as vice chairman and will retain executive responsibility for the growth and integration of Lamrite West and the management of Aaron Brothers stores.    

More and more these days, shopping center developers find themselves in the role of town planner. Once dedicated to creating pleasant spaces for people to shop in, they now are challenged to create places for people to live, play, eat and be entertained in. Build that, they’re told, and shoppers will come. But droves of millennials fleeing suburbs in search of more fulfilling urban lifestyles are giving developers an assist. In some cases, they’re hewing their own downtowns out of rough old sections of town. In others, old downtowns are remaking themselves to welcome this new city stock.

Los Gatos Village Square

Location: 15466 Los Gatos Boulevard, between California Highways 85 and 17 in Los Gatos, California

Size: 46,235 sq. ft.

Developer: Donahue Schriber Realty Group

Grocery anchor: Trader Joe’s

Key tenants: Pet Food Express, See’s Candies, The UPS Store, AAA Automobile Club, Baja Fresh Mexican Grill

With few new grocery centers being built, developers are upping the ante on existing ones

Pat Donahue, together with his late brother Dan and business partner Tom Schriber, has been in grocery-anchored shopping centers since the ’90s. That’s when Schriber calculated that the company’s long-term fortunes, which had rested on mall development up until then, would be better wagered on high-traffic “necessity-based” retail.

“At malls you get ’em three times a month.

TRENDING STORES: Hello Kitty‘s pop-up café, at Irvine Spectrum Center in Irvine, Calif., has been drawing crowds since it opened in July. It’s housed in a shipping container that’s been painted pink and refurbished with a counter and dining patio area, complete with bistro tables and pink-and-white striped awnings. Character graphics adorn the exterior and interior container panels. The café will remain open for a year.

Online brand enters brick-and-mortar space with style

Online menswear retailer Combatant Gentlemen has made the leap to brick-and-mortar with a sleek, streamlined space that speaks to its millennial audience.

It opened its first permanent retail store in July, at Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica, Calif., having previously opened pop-up shops in New York City and Los Angeles, and a showroom at its headquarters in Irvine, Calif. At 2,220 sq.

A company named after the first reptile to develop the feather for flight — archaeopteryx lithographica — is moving to expand its fledgling store portfolio.

Founded in 1991, Vancouver, British Columbia-based Arc’teryx is a manufacturer of high-performance outdoor apparel and equipment. Although the brand’s roots lie in the climbing landscape, it has long since expanded to include skiing, backpacking and other outdoor activities.

There’s no getting around it: It’s been a long, hot summer for the retail industry, one that many retailers will be happy to see end.

From the liquidation of The Sports Authority and Hancock Fabrics to the downsizing of Macy’s and Office Max (to name a few), the past few months have been full of angst as merchants struggle to find their way in a disrupted marketplace.

The good news is that many merchants are rising to the task. They are making the hard calls, however painful, and investments necessary to compete in today’s omnichannel world.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. reported mixed results for the second quarter, and issued a weak outlook for the current quarter amid "a more cautious consumer.”   The retailer reported net earnings of $51.8 million for the quarter ended July 31, compared with $53.7 million in the year-ago period.   Net revenues increased 2.1% to $1.16 billion, short of expectations, up from $1.13 billion last year.   

The battle between bankrupt Aeropostale Inc. and Sycamore Partners has grown more heated.     Aeropostale and its junior creditors have come together in an effort to save the chain, but Sycamore isn’t having any part of it. The private equity firm has filed an objection that opposes the retailer’s second amended joint plan of reorganization. Sycamore believes that liquidation is the best option.