Department Store

New York City -- Footwear designer Jean-Michel Cazabat said he will open his first U.S. store on Oct. 8 in New York City's West Village.

Purchase, N.Y. -- Consumer spending remained strong for most sectors in September, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail and service sales. Most segments reported positive year-over-year sales results, with particularly strong results in the apparel, hardware, and department store sectors.

Americans spent lots of money on apparel in September, and that could be good news for Walmart where last we heard from stores division president and CEO Bill Simon apparel was a key areas where he was confident the retailer would see ongoing improvement during the back half of the year.

New York City -- Macy’s saw same-store sales rise 4.9% in September, and total sales increased 5.3% to $2.298 billion in the five-week period.

“We continued to see a strong sales trend in September at both Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO of Macy’s. “Our sales performed well both in stores and online. This underscores that our business remains on track, despite the persistently negative macroeconomic news.”

Minneapolis -- Christopher & Banks Corp. reported Thursday a net loss of $13 million for the quarter ended Aug. 27, compared with a loss of $2.5 million in the year-ago period.

Sales dropped to $96.2 million from $101.3 million, and same-store sales declined 8% during the quarter.

For the second half of fiscal 2012, the retailer said it plans to open approximately eight new stores and close approximately 17 existing stores.

A moderately better than expected 5.3 % September same-store sales increase was driven by broad-based gains in most categories nationwide, Target reported on Thursday. The increase was due almost entirely to larger average transaction sizes and came on top of a prior year increase of 1.3%. The company also noted that customer traffic as measured by comparable-store transaction increase a little more than 1%.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target announced that it is partnering with internationally renowned designer Josie Natori to introduce its first limited-edition collection of lingerie and loungewear.

New York City -- Despite ongoing concerns about the economy, retailers fared surprisingly well in September, helped by the tail end of back-to-school shopping and cooler temperatures.