Department Store

Toronto -- Sears Canada said Friday that it is rolling out a new in-store area called new baby department, located in the Kids Room in 55 Sears Canada stores across the country.

The new baby department in the Kids Room is "organized into five categories that are clearly signed: nursery, travel, activity, feeding and gifting," said Tracy Culleton, VP of The Kids Room at Sears Canada. "The signing also provides all the features and benefits of the product assortment."

New York -- When Macy’s reported a 4.2% May same-store sales gain on Wednesday, ahead of the rest of the pack, analysts wondered whether that would set the tone for the rest of the department store players. It did — and it didn’t.

New York -- J. Crew Group recorded a boost in first-quarter net income on strong sales. Profits nearly doubled to $30.7 million in the quarter ended April 28, from $16.2 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue grew 23% to $503.5 million, with same-store sales increasing 16%. Store sales were up 26% to $354 million, while direct sales grew 19% to $143.4 million.

New York -- Target and TJX Cos. both reported better-than-expected results in May, with a 4.4% and an 8% increase in same-store sales, respectively. Wall Street expected Target same-store sales to be up 3.5% in May and forecasted TJX sales to rise 5.3%.

Toys“R”Us chairman and CEO Jerry Storch and Nordstrom Direct president Jamie Nordstrom are among the featured speakers at the Shop.org annual summit.

The annual event organized by Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, will be held September 10 to 12 and the Colorado Convention Center and is billed as the premier gathering for retail e-commerce, digital and multichannel retailers.

Hingham, Mass. -- After announcing that talks between private equity firm Sycamore Partners and Talbots had ended, then issuing an update that negotiations had resumed but without exclusivity, the pair said Thursday that a deal has been struck.

Sycamore Partners is acquiring the apparel retailer for approximately $193.3 million, according to Thursday’s announcement.

Including debt, the deal is valued at close to $369 million.

New York -- J.C. Penney Co. has asked a New York Federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the visual merchandising firm Hudson + Broad over the Plexiglass LED square frame used in the chain’s new “Fair and Square” branding campaign, Women’s Wear Daily reported.

NEW YORK — William Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, said that J.C. Penney Co. should start to see “real progress” in early 2013. Ackman made his comments in an interview Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Pershing Square owns about 18% of JCPenney.