Department Store

New York -- Perfumania Holdings announced today the appointment of Linda G. Levy to senior VP and chief marketing officer, effective immediately. She was previously VP merchandise marketing for cosmetics and fragrances at Macy’s.

New York -- Hudson's Bay Co. announced that it has filed a preliminary prospectus with securities regulators in Canada for a proposed initial public offering of common shares. The company, which has been owned by NRDC Equity Partners since 2008, operates U.S. department store chain Lord & Taylor, along with The Bay and Home Outfitters chains in Canada.

WHITING, Ind. — An online consumer survey shows that nearly half of consumers go into brick-and-mortar stores with their smartphones to research items without buying them and then looked for the same item at a lower price online.

The 2,361-adult survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of CouponCabin.com between Sept. 18 and 20, found that 43% of smartphone and tablet owners have engaged in the practice, known as "showrooming."

NEW YORK -- Nordstrom has joined such other Washington-based retailers as Starbucks Coffee Company and Amazon.com in coming out in support of  approving Referendum 74, a Washington state ballot measure that seeks to affirm same-sex marriage with voters. (In July, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, pledged $2.5 million in support of the measure.)
 

INDIANAPOLIS -- Simon Property Group and Paragon Outlet Partners, Baltimore,  have signed a letter of intent to jointly develop Charlotte Premium Outlets, in Stallings, N.C.

Projected to open in 2014, the outlet center will be 400,000 sq. ft. and will house approximately 100 designer and name brand stores.
  
The project, which is expected to break ground during spring 2013, is a 50/50 joint venture between Simon Property Group and Paragon Outlet Partners.

No wonder Walmart comps are increasing. Check out the latest monthly report from the ad tracking provider Market Track.

The month saw drop in the number of circulars released to the market by the majority of retailers. However, interestingly we saw flyers increasing pages compared with last year for most of the retailers in the year over year comparison.

Walmart had a significant increase in both the number of circulars as well as number of pages when compared with same time last year.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Target has announced plans to open a new store in Chicago.  The 190,000-sq.-ft. store, to be  located on West Division and North Larrabee Streets, is scheduled to open in October 2013.

To date, Target has announced plans to open 10 Target stores in 2013, including CityTargets in Los Angeles, Portland and San Francisco.

Evansville, Ind. -- Shoe Carnival announced that Mark L. Lemond is retiring for health reasons from his positions as president, CEO and director effective Oct. 27.