Apparel

Inland names executive VP and head of property management
Oak Brook, Ill. -- Inland Investment Real Estate Services hires Niall J. Byrne as executive VP and head of property management. Byrne will be responsible for IIRES’s property management for Inland Investments, Inland National Development Corporation and Inland Institutional Capital Partners.
dd’s Discounts up store count in Texas, Arizona
dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc. will open a 20,000-sq.-ft. store at Parkshire Center in Wilcrest, Texas on Feb. 6. The location is 14 miles southwest of downtown Houston, at the intersection of Highway 59 and Wilcrest Drive.

The new store ups dd’s store count in Texas to 37 locations, making it the retailer’s second largest state. With the new opening, the chain will operate 175 locations in 15 states.

Destination XL keeps the momentum going

Destination XL increased its earnings guidance for fiscal 2015 after the men's big and tall retailer pre-announced high single digit Q4 comps and increased profit.
He’s not done: Dov Charney looking to return with new retail format

American Apparel founder and ousted CEO is nothing if not determined.

Days after a bankruptcy court judge rejected a takeover proposal by Hagan Capital and Silver Creek Capital Partners that would have also returned Dov Charney to a leadership position at American Apparel, the controversial founder is reportedly already at work on his return to the retail scene.
How ‘Project Leapfrog’ helps Lucky Brand win

Lucky Brand may be 25 years old, but with two new prototypes performing well and a series of omnichannel investments yielding results, the private equity-backed company’s most significant growth could be just beginning.
Macy’s creates two new C-level positions

Macy’s named longtime executive Peter Sachse to a new position with added responsibility for merchandising and said Justin S. MacFarlane joined the company as chief strategy, analytics and innovation officer.

The company said the changes were part of the company’s plan to, “aggressively to grow its omnichannel business based on intensive insight into evolving consumer preferences and changing shopping patterns.”
Watch out Black Friday, Year of the Monkey is here

Retailers are always looking for new promotional opportunities and with the arrival on the Lunar New Year a mall operator in upstate New York hopes to generate shopper traffic with a range of Chinese-inspired activities.
Destination XL the momentum — and store expansion — going

Destination XL increased its earnings guidance for fiscal 2015 after the men's big-and-tall retailer pre-announced increased profit and high single-digit same-store sales for the fourth quarter.
Be like Beckham, global superstar reprises role in H&M campaign
H&M’s brick-and-mortar expansion continues at torrid pace

H&M isn’t letting a challenging retail environment stand in the way of its physical expansion.

The Swedish retail powerhouse plans to open 425 stores in 2016, with a focus on expansion in the United States and China. The company will also enter several new markets this year, including New Zealand, Puerto Rico and Cyprus.

In addition, the chain will expand its e-commerce site to several markets, including Ireland, Japan, and Greece.

At the close of its fiscal year, H&M operated 3,924 stores in 61 markets.
New debt financing to support women’s lifestyle retailer’s store expansion

Soft Surroundings has completed a dividend recapitalization that was financed through an expansion of the existing credit facility.

The women’s lifestyle retailer is in the midst of a nationwide store expansion strategy, and the new debt financing includes a designated facility to fund future store openings. The company opened 11 new stores in 2015 and has identified over 15 locations for 2016.
Vertical shoe retailer steps up store operations

For footwear manufacturer Red Wing Shoe Company, operating more than 500 stores is an added network complexity.

The Red Wing, Minnesota-based company also has a wider variety of in-store needs, such as operating a business-to-business sales environment as well as a direct-to-consumer channel, than many other retailers. Thus, when Red Wing decided to implement Oracle Retail Xstore POS software, it enlisted the help of system integration and development services provider BTM Global.