Department Store

Chicago -- JLL announced the expansion of its retail team with the addition of Bill Moston. Moston joins JLL as a senior VP, National Retail Development, and brings nearly 30 years of experience to JLL. He will be based out of the firm’s Chicago office.

In his new role, Moston will be responsible for advising JLL’s clients and executing on ground-up retail projects, redevelopments and renovations across the United States, as well as managing anchor store negotiations and tenant coordination.

New York – A state appeals court in New York has revived two claims Macy’s Inc. made against J.C. Penney Co. Inc. in a long-running dispute between the two department store chains about who has the right to sell Martha Stewart Living home products.   

 According to Reuters, in a unanimous decision, judges in the Manhattan Appellate Division ruled that Penney breached confidentiality provisions of Macy’s contract with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Penney’s actions amounted to unfair competition.

Dublin, Calif. -- dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc., will open a new store in Oxnard, California. The opening date is scheduled for Feb. 28.

The new store is located in Fremont Square along North Ventura Road and Doris Avenue in North Oxnard.

California is the retailer’s largest state with a total of 68 stores.  Including this new location, dd’s Discounts will operate 156 locations in 15 states.
 

Dublin, Calif. – Costs and expenses did not grow at the same rate as sales during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 at Ross Stores Inc., resulting in significant net income growth compared to the prior year period. Ross Stores’ net earnings grew 14% to $248.53 million, from $217.95 million.

Sales climbed 10% to $3.03 billion, from $2.74 billion. Same-store sales rose 6%.

Lakeland, Fla. -- Retail Solutions Advisors (RSA) has been selected as the exclusive leasing representative for Crosswinds, a 139,037-sq.-ft. community shopping center near Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg, Florida.  

Current anchors include Marshall’s, Michael’s and Bed Bath and Beyond.
 
The property is owned by Crosswinds St Pete, LLC, who will continue to manage the center.

Jacksonville, Fla. - Stein Mart is opening 11 new stores this year as part of the company's accelerated store growth that began in 2014. The new stores include the company's March opening of the first-ever San Francisco Bay area location in Cupertino, California, and 10 additional stores opening in the fall.

This is an increase from the company's earlier estimate of 10 new stores for 2015 announced in November. In 2014, Stein Mart opened nine new stores.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl's Corp. reported better-than-expected profit for its fourth-quarter profit, helped by strong holiday sales.
 
The retailer earned $369 million for the quarter ended Jan. 31, up from $334 million a year ago.

Total sales were up 3.9% to $6.34 billion from $6.1 billion in the year-ago period, also better than expected. Same-store sales increased 3.7%, a significant improvement after five straight quarters of decline.

Madison, Wis. -- Two locally owned businesses – Mes Amies and Waxing the City – will join the tenant lineup as part of the redevelopment of Hilldale shopping center, located in Madison, Wisconsin.

Women’s apparel boutique Mes Amies will open this summer, a relocation from Chicago. And waxing and personal care studio Waxing the City will make its Wisconsin debut with the Hilldale store, also slated to open summer 2015.