Apparel

American Apparel Inc. reportedly is preparing to file for its second bankruptcy just nine months after it emerged from its first one.     According to Bloomberg, the beleaguered retailer, whose sales continue to slide, could file as early as in the next few weeks.  

One of the retail industry’s most environmentally-activist brands is shutting down operations for Election Day.   Patagonia will close its 30 U.S stores and headquarters in Ventura, Calif., on Election Day, Nov. 8, in an effort to encourage customers, employees and citizens to head to the polls. The company, which is giving its employees a paid holiday for the day, will also shutter its distribution and customer service center in Reno, Nevada.  

Starwood Retail Partners’ $100 million renovation of The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Texas, will add genuine life to its re-imagined entertainment component. North Texas Performing Arts and its Plano Children’s Theatre will make its new headquarters in a 23,000-sq.-ft. space at the mall, which is also getting eight chef-driven restaurants and a 30,000-sq.-ft. fitness center.

Modell’s Sporting Goods is opening a flagship on the site of a former rival.   Modell’s will open a two-level, 20,000-sq.-ft. store on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in a site formerly occupied by Sports Authority. The opening is slated for mid-November.    The store will become Modell’s flagship store in Manhattan, said William Rudin, CEO of property manager Rudin Management Company, in a release.  

Canadian retailer Arc'teryx has opened a stylish pop-up dedicated to its Veilance outerwear menswear collection.     Arc'teryx partnered with New York-based design firm Snarkitecture on the temporary store, located in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, which will be open until January 8, 2017.   

PREIT’s stated strategic shift to pack its portfolio with more relevant anchors is moving ahead at full steam.   At its Cumberland Mall in New Jersey this month, Dick’s Sporting Goods opened in a 50,000-sq.-ft. space vacated by J.C. Penney. In December, another former Penney’s space will debut as a Round One Entertainment location, and being readied for 2017 openings at other PREIT malls are Home Goods and Field & Stream stores, a Whole Foods Market, and a Legoland Discovery Center.  

REI has opened it largest location on the East Coast, a 51,000-sq.ft. flagship in Washington, D.C.   The store is designed to offer members of the outdoor community a place to meet and plan adventures — and shop for outdoor gear. It includes such features as a 1,052-sq.-ft. cafe, outdoor courtyard with a fire pit and tables, and a community space that offers a robust schedule of free and low-cost classes in-store classes for cycling, paddling, fitness, hiking and camping, climbing, snow sports, photography and wilderness medicine.

Boohoo.com, the England-based, low-priced fashion Web retailer, will be opening its first brick-and-mortar store in Manhattan’s Union Square neighborhood.   An opening date has not been set, but Cushman & Wakefield reported it has secured the retailer a lease for a 2,000-sq.-ft. space at 3 West 13th Street.