Department Store

New York -- The National Retail Federation's 102nd Annual Convention & Expo, also referred to as Retail's BIG Show, opened on Sunday, with more than 27,000 attendees from more than 70 countries around the globe. The event, taking place at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, runs through Jan. 15.

New York -- PayPay announced Monday that a total of 23 national retailers are now signed up to accept PayPal in their stores, making the payment solution accepted in more than 18,000 physical retail locations. PayPay also announced that Jamba Juice is testing an order-ahead feature that allows customers to place an order, select a time for pick-up, and pay in advance via the PayPal App – so when they arrive, they can save time and skip the line, grab their food and be on their way.

PHILADELPHIA — Urban Outfitters Inc. said its same-stores sales for the holiday season rose 9%, including its direct-to-consumer business. Excluding that unit, same-store sales fell 1%.

Total company net sales for November and December increased 15% to $666 million.

Among Urban Outfitters’ brands, comparable sales increased 33% at Free People, 10% at Urban Outfitters and 5% at Anthropologie. Direct-to-consumer net sales increased by 38% for the period and wholesale segment net sales increased 21%.

Levi’s latest New York City location, in SoHo, has a rustic feel, enhanced by the use of wood and other materials. Designed by MBH Architects, the 12,683-sq. ft. store features tent-like dressing rooms and lighting fixtures made of rope. The "fit bar" is a table made of natural wood logs.

New York -- The 2012 holiday shopping season didn’t provide the sales and traffic lift anticipated by retailers, according to Experian FootFall. The company said the season got off to a blazing start as consumers responded to some of the earliest Black Friday sales and promotions, effectively extending the Black Friday shopping experience to a four-day event. Following this annual start to the season that accounted for billions of dollars in retail sales, the 2012 calendar shift began to impact consumer behavior.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores announced that Enrique Ostale, president and CEO of Walmart Chile, formerly D&S, has been named EVP, president and CEO of Walmart Latin America, where he will oversee Walmart's operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.

Minneapolis -- Target announced plans to open a store in Huntington, N.Y. in October.

To date, Target has announced plans to open 17 Target stores in 2013.

New York -- Two armed men invaded a Nordstrom Rack in Los Angeles on Thursday night and took 14 employees captive, sexually assaulting one, injuring three others and locking the detainees in a storage room for hours, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The hours-long hostage drama ended early Friday with a police SWAT team surging into the shop and rescuing 14 workers. The armed men escaped.