Department Store

Toronto -- Sears Canada Inc. will enter into a series of transactions related to two stores within shopping centers co-owned by Oxford Properties Group and Alberta Investment Management Corporation that give the co-owners the right to require Sears Canada to vacate the properties by March 2014. The transactions, valued at $191 million, affect stores at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto and at Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga.

New York -- David’s Bridal has entered into a partnership with American designer Zac Posen to launch 'Truly Zac Posen', a collection of bridal and other special occasion dresses. The collection will debut in February 2014 in select David’s Bridal stores and online.

Overall economic growth in Europe is slower than in the U.S., but the opposite is true when it comes to e-commerce sales, according to figures published by Internet Retailer.
 
U.S. e-commerce sales grew 15.9% to $225.54 billion in 2012 from $194.61 billion the prior year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce while the Centre for Retail Research in the U.K. said European e-commerce sales increased 16.6% to $302.2 billion from 260.4 billion.

Framingham, Mass. -- Dawn Lepore, who has previously served as interim CEO of Prosper Marketplace and also held executive positions at drugstore.com and The Charles Schwab Company, has been named to the board of directors of The TJX Companies.

TJX is expanding the size of its board with this appointment and Lepore joins 10 sitting board members.

New York -- Gilt, the popular online retailer of  discounted high-end designer apparel and accessories, will open its first-ever brick-and-mortar location, a pop-up store in Shelbyville Road Plaza, Louisville, Ky.    
 
“GLI welcomes the first Gilt.com Designer Outlet to the Louisville business community,” said Greater Louisville Inc. CEO and president Craig J. Richard in a press release issued by the online retailer. “The exciting new concept store is a unique addition to our local retail market.”

City of Industry, Calif. -- Private equity outfit Sycamore Partners said Thursday it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Hot Topic, valued at about $600 million and returning the Hot Topic namesake stores and the Torrid banner to the private sector.

"Hot Topic and Torrid are both leaders in their categories, and we are excited to have both brands as part of our portfolio," said Stefan Kaluzny, managing director of Sycamore Partners.  

Cincinnati -- Cobb Theatres’ CineBistro will co-anchor Cincinnati’s 1.1 million-sq.-ft. Liberty Center with Dillard's, according to center developers Steiner + Associates and Bucksbaum Retail Properties. The developers plan to announce a third anchor in coming weeks.

CineBistro was recently named as “one of eight theatres redefining the movie-going experience” by Entertainment Weekly.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Red Legacy, a commercial real estate developer for shopping centers, has hired Stacy Scheelk as its new senior director of new business development.

Scheelk is a shopping industry expert with a background in local, regional and national business development and marketing. She will be charged elevating and maximizing the potential of each development by fomenting partnerships, securing sponsorships, creating specialty retail and increasing ancillary income.