Apparel

Everything old is new again at American Eagle Outfitters, apparently with good reason.

The teen apparel retailer on Wednesday named Jay L. Schottenstein as CEO, effective immediately. Schottenstein, who has served as interim chief since January 2014, will also continue in his role as executive chairman of the board. The news of his appointment came as the retailer reported a strong increase in its third quarter earnings. It was the chain’s third consecutive quarter of increased sales and profits.

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. -- Kimco Realty Corp. announced that it purchased Christown Spectrum power center in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona for $115.3 million. The property is an 850,000 sq. ft. center situated one mile east of Interstate 17 and lies adjacent to the second-busiest light rail station in Phoenix.

Forever 21 is heeding the popular wisdom that mobile devices serve as omnichannel remote controls with its new app.

The fast-fashion chain is unveiling a new Android app and updating its existing iPhone app. Designed to enhance the shopping experience in-store and online, the app features five key touch points, including:

• F21 Inspiration – displays shoppable editorial stories, shop by outfits, lookbooks and exclusive videos.

Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) is going green for its first store in Lower Manhattan.

The retailer will open a 25,000-sq.-ft. store at Westfield World Trade Center, set to open in spring 2016. It will be H&M’s 17th location in New York City, and its first U.S. store to apply for LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification.

Harry Rosen, Inc., a 17-store, Toronto-based luxury menswear retailer, is making the back-end effort to offer a front-end omnichannel experience.

Harry Rosen has chosen the Jesta I.S. Omnichannel Retail Suite, including merchandising, planning, distribution, POS and mobile POS, financials and business intelligence. The retailer expects to centralize its operations on the Jesta I.S. Vision Suite, bringing the entire company onto a single, integrated retail platform.

Strong sales at Maurices and Lane Bryant weren’t enough to lift Ascena in the first quarter, as the company reported a decrease in comps.

For the period ended Oct. 24, the company reported a net loss of 10 cents per diluted share compared to net income of 32 cents per diluted share in the same period of fiscal 2015. The company blamed the decrease on transaction costs related to the acquisition of Ann Inc., which closed during the first quarter fof fiscal 2016. Comps dropped 3% in the first quarter.

Nordstrom Rack, the off-price division of Nordstrom, continues its expansion, announcing two new upcoming locations.

The retailer plans to open a 28,000-sq.-ft. store at Fashion Outlets of Chicago in Rosemont, Ill., in fall 2016. The property is owned by Macerich.

Bridgeport Landing Development, a subsidiary of The RCI Group announced that Connecticut’s first Bass Pro Shops has opened at Steelpointe Harbor located in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The Steelpointe Harbor Bass Pro Shops is a 150,000 sq. ft. store featuring Uncle Bucks Fish Bowl and Grill restaurant, Black Widow Billiards™ parlor complete with two tournament pool tables, a bowling alley with 12 full lanes, an archery range and aquarium.

JTRE Holdings announced it purchased the cooperative shares of the ground floor retail portion of 349 W Broadway in Soho, New York. Adding to its rapidly growing portfolio of commercial and mixed-use assets, the property was acquired for $5 million.

Apparel specialty retailers experienced a sales pick up over Black Friday weekend, while department-store and electronics revenue was roughly flat, Reuters reported.

Online sales growth was in the double digits over the weekend, beating MasterCard's forecast for about an 8% increase.

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