Apparel

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th will open a store at Christiana Fashion Center in Christiana, Delaware, in October. The 32,000 –sq.-ft. store will be the off-price retailer’s first in the state of Delaware.

Minneapolis – Christopher & Banks Corp. swung to a net loss of $1.4 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, compared to net income of $2.6 million the same quarter a year earlier. Total costs and expenses exceed net sales of $91.62 million, which was an 11 % drop from $103.37 million, while same-store sales dropped 11.7%.

During the second quarter of fiscal 2015, Christopher & Banks expects to open one new Missy, Petite, Women (MPW) and 14 new outlet stores, and also close one CB store and convert seven others to MPW stores.

Indianapolis – Simon is expanding the Sawgrass Mills value, outlet and entertainment center in Sunrise, Florida by adding a full-price component, Town Center at Sawgrass. Town Center at Sawgrass will be accessible from both Flamingo and Sunrise boulevards and will be flanked by four new sit-down restaurants and a new parking deck able to accommodate 2,000 vehicles.

Toronto - Sears Canada Inc. has closed a transaction to sell and leaseback three properties to Concord Pacific Group of Companies. The transaction, originally announced on March 11, 2015, has closed for total proceeds of $140 million.

Brisbane, Calif. – Manny Mashouf, founder and chairman of Bebe Stores Inc., intends to gradually sell off his 59% majority ownership stake in the company. Bebe has filed a registration statement with the SEC for a proposed secondary offering of about 46.9 million shares associated with Mashouf.

Mashouf will sell the shares during a reasonable period of time. Bebe will not receive any proceeds from the sale.
 

Burlington, N.J. – Aided by reductions in areas such as interest expense, debt extinguishment and stock option modification, Burlington Stores Inc. more than doubled its net income to $25.69 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from $11.77 million the same period a year earlier. The company plans to open 25 stores during fiscal 2015.

The West Coast port dispute and traffic declines due to weather led to a big loss for Christopher & Banks Corp. in the first quarter.

Bealls has come up with a creative marketing campaign to leverage the artistic talent of its customers.

The company has launched the Bealls Florida Artist Competition, which will provide the opportunity for new and established artists to have their artwork produced into a line of Florida-inspired products exclusive to Bealls Florida.

Things are looking up for yogawear retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc., which reported a large increase in revenue from online sales in the first quarter.

Simon is expanding the hugely successful Sawgrass Mills outlet and entertainment center in Florida by adding a new, full-price component.