Apparel

DLC Management Corp.’s joint acquisition of 16 properties with DRA Advisors this month increased the square footage of its portfolio by 26% and its dollar value by 17%. DLC president and CEO Adam Ifshin aims to increase that dollar contribution in the years to come.    “We don’t buy value-add properties and baby-sit them,” he told Chain Store Age. “We come to them with a business plan and ask ourselves ‘How do we add value?’”  

Zara, the trendy global fashion retailer, will soon assume a place between Macy’s and Nordstrom at the Cherry Hill Mall in suburban Philadelphia.   

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.

A big mall developer thinks Aerospostale still has plenty of life left in it.   Simon Property Group, along with General Growth Properties and several other companies, bought the failing chain out of bankruptcy in September.  Speaking to a group of investors last week,  CEO David Simon expressed confidence in Aeropostale’s ability to regain momentum.  

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.  

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.