Consumer Electronics

ST. LOUIS — Brown Shoe Company saw a shift in sales to the second quarter from the third quarter which helped deliver net sales of $621.7 million for the second quarter ended Aug. 3, up 10% from $564.9 million last year.

Millennials and boomers are driving an urban push

Generations after people deserted cities for the suburbs, young millennial-generation adults and older baby-boomer adults are moving back downtown.

Retailers aren't far behind, and new, seemingly instant neighborhoods — complete with housing, retail, offices and other forms of real estate — are springing up in redevelopment areas of cities across the country.

Richfield, Minn. -- Best Buy Inc.’s founder and largest shareholder, Richard Schulze, plans to sell off an unspecified portion of his 20% stock holdings in the chain, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  

The move is part of Schulze's “personal long-term strategy for asset diversification and liquidity,” according to the filing, which did not disclose the total number of shares expected to be effected by the sale.

PARK CITY, Utah — Skullcandy has appointed Heidi O'Neill, who is VP and GM of women’s training and fitness at Nike, to the company's board of directors. 

WOODBURY TOWN CENTER

Location: Irvine, Calif. (SR 133 —the Laguna Freeway and the I-5 Santa AnaFreeway)

Size: 462,000 sq. ft.

Developer: Irvine Co. Retail Properties

Grocery anchors: Ralphs Fresh Fare, Trader Joe's

Key tenants: Home Depot, LA Fitness, Walgreens, Staples

Status: Open and operating since 2007

Armonk, N.Y. – Back-to-school sales may have been stronger than anticipated this year, judging by online sales performance in July and August. According to the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, online sales saw substantial gains from July through the third week in August, fueled by double-digit growth in mobile buying.

Specific findings for online sales activity in each month include:

July

San Diego – Ninety-three percent of U.S. families are doing back-to-school shopping for students age 18 and younger this year and are expected to spend a total of $72.5 billion. Results of the 2013 Back to School Intentions Study from TrendSource show that school supplies are far and away the most popular item, with 95% of back-to-school shoppers buying them.

Chesterfield, Mo. — Simon Property Group has announced the opening of Phase I of St. Louis Premium Outlets in Chesterfield, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis.

The 350,000-sq.-ft. Phase I features 90 outlets and is 100% leased. Designer and name branded outlet shops include Armani, Kate Spade New York, Michael Kors, Nike, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th and Under Armour.

The center is a joint venture between Simon Property Group and Woodmont Outlets, an affiliate of The Woodmont Company, a retail shopping center developer and operator.