Apparel

Omnichannel has pushed the envelope on customer expectations, and retailers need to deliver — literally.   Express is not only meeting customer expectations, it is exceeding them by outsourcing its fulfillment and freight operations to Radial. The omnichannel technology and operations provider’s Richwood, Kent.-based fulfillment center features space specifically built out to support Express’ back-end omnichannel needs.   

Macy’s is the latest retailer to announce it will hire roughly the same amount of holiday employees as last year.    This holiday season, the department store giant plans to hire approximately 83,000 associates for positions across its Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores, call centers, distribution centers and online fulfillment centers nationwide.   

Kmart continues to shrink.   The chain is closing another 64 stores, Marketwatch.com reported.   The latest round of closings are in addition to a decision by Kmart parent Sears Holdings Corp. last April to close 68 Kmart stores this year, the report said.   Kmart operated 941 stores as of Jan. 30, meaning it has now announced plans to close about 14% of its locations.

John Douglas has been named chief technology officer at Tory Burch LLC.   In this newly created position, Douglas will be responsible for leading the company’s global technology and IT functions.   Previously, Douglas was the CIO with MCM Fashion Group. Prior to that position, he spent nine years as CTO at Burberry.  

Consumers’ new ‘buy now, wear now’ mentality it putting them at odds with retailers, many of whom are already pushing outerwear and other cold weather gear.    

Hot on the heels of its first U.S. store, Surmesur, a made-to-measure online men’s clothing retailer, has brought its original custom menswear concept to Chicago.   The Chicago store is the eighth for the custom menswear retailer and the second outside Canada's borders, with the recent opening of a store in Pittsburgh.  

Saks Fifth Avenues’ value-luxury brand opened its fourth Virginia outlet this week in Springfield, just outside of Alexandria.   The new store occupies a 30,000-sq.-ft. space on two levels in the PREIT-owned Springfield Town Center, its first mall location in the Washington, D.C., area.   

Jason LaRose has been named Under Armour’s president, North America.    LaRose succeeds Matthew Mirchin, who will transition to the role of strategic advisor, global rrevenue, effective Oct. 1.    The two men will continue to closely work together to “accelerate our footprint in North America,” Kevin Plank, founder and CEO of Under Armour said in a statement.