Department Store

New York City -- Children's clothing retailer Hartstrings L.L.C., owned by Maryland private-equity firm American Capital L.P., has declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The company, which has 28 stores and a wholesale operation, plans to dissolve the business.

The filing comes a year after the company entered into an agreement with television personality Tori Spelling to develop a children's clothing line under the Little Maven label.

It’s the time of year when retailers engage in the annual Dads and Grads promotional extravaganza, and Target is promoting the Apple iPad at $499 as a gift-giving solution.

The iPad appeared on a full-page ad in this week’s circular along with other Apple products such as the iPhone 4 and the iPod Touch.

Not that dads and grads wouldn’t want an iPad, and it never hurts to feature an item that shoppers can aspire to, but the iPad would appear to be out of the price range of most gift-givers, especially where Father’s Day is concerned.

Thinking of opening a store on Manhattan’s Fifth Ave? Be prepared to shell out some hefty rent. The average rent for space along Fifth Avenue’s prime stretch from 49th Street up to 59th Street hit $1,900 per square foot in the first quarter, according to the latest CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Global Retail MarketView. The second-highest U.S. retail market? Los Angeles, with rents of $520 per square foot.

New York City -- Cushman & Wakefield announced that Stella McCartney, the fashion and accessories retailer and daughter of Paul McCartney, will open a new store at 112 Greene Street between Prince and Spring Streets, in the SoHo area of Manhattan.

The opening is planned for the fall.

Stella McCartney will occupy approximately 5,200 total sq. ft. between the ground floor and lower level in a 10-year lease.

Hong Kong -- Italian fashion house Prada, which is preparing for an initial public offering of about $2 billion in Hong Kong, said it plans to use most of the proceeds on expansion and renovation of its stores over the next 18 months.

The Milan-based company said it plans to add a net total of about 80 directly operated stores by the end of January 2012, most of them in the Asia Pacific region, where it sees "substantial potential for growth," Prada said in the a regulatory filing.

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Nearly half (48%) of retailers do not offer product ratings or reviews on their website, according to a survey by CrossView, a provider of cross-channel commerce solutions.

New York City -- Robert K. Futterman & Associates said it has arranged a 14,564-sq.-ft. lease for Anthropologie at 1230 Third Ave. for its first Upper East Side location.

Set to open this holiday season, the retailer will consist of 5,051 sq. ft. on the ground-floor and 9,513 sq. ft. of lower-level retail space. 

This will be Anthropologie’s fifth location in Manhattan. 

Fort Worth, Texas -- Pier 1 Imports said Thursday its same-store sales rose 10.2% in the first quarter, helped by better traffic, more purchases being made and a higher average receipt. The retailer also gave a first-quarter earnings forecast above Wall Street's expectations.

Total revenue for the period ended May 28 climbed 10% to $335 million from $306 million.