Apparel

Los Angeles – A little more than a month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, specialty women’s apparel retailer Cache is throwing in the towel. Advisory and valuation services provider Great American Group (GA), which won a bid for Cache’s assets at a March 3 bankruptcy auction, has begun "going-out-of-business" sales for all Cache's retail locations in the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.  

New York – Specialty retailer Aerie, a subsidiary of American Eagle Outfitters, is capitalizing on the “selfie” craze in its newest promotion. The company has created what it calls the world's largest unretouched selfie and photo shoot as part of its #AerieREAL “Love Your Real Selfie” promotion.

Las Vegas -- The Las Vegas Strip has a brand new retail attraction: Grand Bazaar Shops. The two-acre, open-air center is located adjacent to Bally’s Las Vegas.

New York -- Retailers making headlines with store expansion plans for 2015 include a mix of global players as well as some familiar national brands. Here’s an update:

• Famed British toy retailer Hamleys is coming across the pond. The 225-year old company is looking at a multiple store roll-out throughout the United States. Hamleys, which has 49 stores across 17 countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, is most famous for its seven-story location on Regent Street in London.


Seattle -- Nordstrom will open a full-line store in the new regional shopping center being developed by General Growth Properties in Norwalk, Connecticut.  

The three-level, 150,000-sq.-ft. store is scheduled to open in fall 2018 and will be the company's second full-line store in the state. The company opened its first Nordstrom in Connecticut in 1997 near Hartford at Westfarms Mall in Farmington.

Houston -- Simon is further elevating its signature Houston Galleria by investing in a $30 million renovation of the luxury wing in addition to adding a new Saks Fifth Avenue flagship, 110,000 sq. ft. of new retail space, and a 14,000-sq.-ft. freestanding retail building.

Ross Stores is less than two months into its new fiscal year and already the company is halfway home on its 2015 new store growth plan and asserting its long term potential.

Ross confirmed that since the beginning of its fiscal year on Feb. 1, it opened 32 Ross Dress for Less stores and five dd’s Discounts stores in 15 states.

The company’s full year plan disclosed when fourth quarter results were released on Feb. 26, calls for 70 Ross stores and 20 dd’s Discounts stores.

Loblaw is already Canada’s largest retailer and it plans to stay that way by spending more than $1 billion this year on new stores, e-commerce expansion and supply chain improvements.

As Canada's largest network of corporate and independently owned retail stores and formats, each employing between 20 and 300 employees, Loblaw's investment is expected to create more than 20,000 jobs through store staffing and construction.

Fans of Cinderella will have a chance to write their own happily-ever-after with a new digital marketing campaign from Zales Jewelers.

As part of Zales’ promotion of Disney’s new “Cinderella” movie (out this month), Zales is inviting Cinderella fans to upload a photo with their prince charming to its website (www.zales.com/Cinderella) or on Instagram using the hashtag #ZalesCinderellaPromo. Through a sweepstakes drawing, a grand prize winner will be selected to receive a $10,000 Zales gift card. A first runner up will receive a $1,000 Zales gift card.

The Ethisphere Institute is out with its “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list and the names of retailers are few and far between.