Apparel

Improved e-commerce and marketing strategies are among the reasons Shoe Carnival President and CEO Cliff Sifford cited for the company’s increase in same store sales.

 

New York — Saks Fifth Avenue flagship on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue has unveiled its holiday windows along with a dramatic light display that encompasses the entire façade of the iconic buiding.  

New York — J. Crew provided the best overall online customer service in October, marking the retailer’s third time topping the Stella Benchmarks rankings from StellaService in 2014. The retailer ranked 4th in phone, second in email, eighth in shipping and 17th in returns.
  Stella Benchmarks includes 138 companies evaluated on a daily basis by StellaService. Customer care channels, phone, email and chat, are measured daily, while fulfillment metrics are measured across multiple orders each month.
 

Goleta, Calif. — Ugg Australia, a division of Deckers Brands, has taken its omnichannel commitment to a new level with the opening of its store in Tysons Galleria, McLean, Va. The technology-driven, 2,110-sq.-ft. store features the latest in omnichannel solutions and RFID innovations that combine to make for a more seamless and connected customer experience.   

Chicago - HSA Commercial Real Estate announced that the firm has executed a 22,454-sq.-ft. lease with HomeGoods for the second phase of The Mayfair Collection, which is now under construction in Wauwatosa (Milwaukee), Wisconsin. HomeGoods will occupy the northern end cap of a building to be anchored by a 45,150-sq.-ft. Whole Foods Market.  

New York - Manhattan’s high-profile Fifth Avenue, at a whopping $3,550 per sq. ft., and Hong Kong’s Queen’s Road Central, at $2,073 per sq. ft., stand out as the most expensive retail rents in the world, according to Colliers International. Rounding out the top five are Hong Kong’s Canton Road, Manhattan’s Madison Avenue and Paris’ Champs Elysees. (See end of story for a more complete list.)  

New York - Nordstrom was the most engaged retail brand on Pinterest, followed by Amazon, according to Curalate, which collected more than 180,000 Pins and analyzed nearly five million interactions associated with the Top 100 brands from November 1st to November 21. Rounding out the top five:Urban Outfitters, American Eagle Outfitters and Zulily.

Columbus, Ohio – DSW Inc. exceeded Wall Street expectations for net income and sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income fell a less than expected 10% to $49.55 million from $54.96 million the same quarter a year earlier, with higher operating expenses and lower pretax income contributing to the decline. Sales totaled $670 million compared to $633 million and same-store sales rose 2.6%.

Fort Myers, Fla. – Chico’s FAS Inc. reported a net loss of $28.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, compared to net income of $35.8 million in the third quarter of the previous fiscal year and below Wall Street predictions.

After nearly a decade of stalled growth in the shopping center industry, 2014 finally saw progress being made on the new development front. While it’s true that much of the ground-up construction was of the outlet center ilk, the value sector wasn’t the only new-build push. Mixed-use properties and open-air destinations continue to come out of the ground, albeit stingily, as do hybrid centers that defy current standard definitions.