Apparel

Toronto, Canada —Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) is positioning itself for major global expansion with the purchase of the 15-year-old Galeria Kaufhof department store chain from German retail conglomerate Metro Group for about $3.17 billion. The planned purchase includes 103 Galeria Kaufof stores in Germany, as well as 16 German Sportarena stores and 16 Galeria Inno department stores in Belgium.

Toronto, Canada — Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) is positioning itself for major global expansion with the purchase of the 15-year-old Galeria Kaufhof department store chain from German retail conglomerate Metro Group for about $3.17 billion. The planned purchase includes 103 Galeria Kaufof stores in Germany, as well as 16 German Sportarena stores and 16 Galeria Inno department stores in Belgium.

Cincinnati — Phillips Edison Grocery Center Reit II Inc. has purchased the Old Alabama Square center in Alpharetta, Ga. Old Alabama Square is a 103,268-sq.-ft. shopping center anchored by the Fresh Market.

This acquisition adds the first Fresh Market grocery-anchored shopping center to the company’s portfolio. The center also features national tenants Walgreens, Firehouse Subs, Verizon Wireless and State Farm.

NEW YORK — Veteran retail, hospitality, airport and commercial facilities architect and designer Anthony Deen has joined brand agency and retail design consultancy CBX as creative director, branded environments.

In his position, Deen will partner with senior management in shaping the vision for retail, restaurant and hospitality clients’ branded environments that are relevant in the marketplace.

Deen comes to CBX from Landor, a brand consulting and design firm in New York City, where he was creative director, environment design since 2011.  

As retailers race to make their gift registry services more interactive, Belk is launching a new wedding registry app.

In addition to in-store kiosks, registrants can now set up a registry, manage their registry and scan items using their smartphones.

The app features tips on what to register for and a registry checklist to make sure no items are missed. Any time a registrant is in the store and sees a new item they would like to add, they can scan from their smart phone to immediately add the item to their registry.

Gap Inc. is planning to close 175 of its Gap stores and streamline its workforce by as many as 250 positions as the struggling retailer moves to re-ignite productivity and growth at its namesake brand.

The company says the series of strategic actions are part of a comprehensive effort to deliver more consistent and compelling product collections and engage customers across all channels.

Dallas — Neiman Marcus Group posted a profit of $19.8 million for the third quarter, compared with a year-earlier loss of $8 million. (The quarter included a $16 million charge for amortization of intangible assets, compared with a $36 million charge a year earlier.)

Revenue for the period ended May 2 grew to $1.22 billion from $1.16 billion in the year-ago period, boosted by Neiman’s acqusition of luxury online retailer MyTheresa in fall 2014.

Arlington, Va. — The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is publicly urging members of the U.S. House of Representatives to approve H.R. 1314, a bill to renew Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and extend Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) legislation. The bill is scheduled for vote June 12.

Shoe Carnival is planning to open smaller stores to leverage untapped markets in smaller communities, as well as the company's omnichannel capabilities.

<The Neiman Marcus Group says currency exchange rates put pressure on traffic in the first quarter as the company reported a smaller than expected boost in same store sales. 

The retailer said same store sales increased 2.2% for the third quarter ended May 2 as the strong dollar had some impact on the retailer’s business.