Department Store

Washington Prime Group has announced a $33 million renovation plan of Pearlridge Center in Aiea, Hawaii, near Pearl Harbor. The 1.2 million-sq.-ft. property is the largest retail center in the state, consisting of Uptown and Downtown complexes joined by a monorail.  

J.C. Penney is shoring up its commitment to its new technology lab in Bangalore, India.   The chain has tapped Snehil Gambhir as VP and managing director of its global in-house center (GIC). Tasked with leading all operations at the company’s GIC, he will support and expand a variety of key business functions, including IT, digital, store operations, analytics, marketing, infrastructure and merchandise operations.  

Schostak Brothers has added six multi-tenant properties to its “Shadow Walmart” portfolio of retail space adjoining supercenters, bringing it to a total of 67. The new additions are located in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.   “In the last decade, we have pursued an aggressive growth strategy in order to assemble one of the largest Walmart Supercenter shadow-anchored shopping center portfolios in the United States,” said Schostak COO Warren Strietzel.  

The search is on for a new president of Banana Republic, which has had a hard time finding its footing amid dismal same-store sales results.     Gap Inc. said Tuesday that company veteran Andi Owen, global brand president for Banana Republic, will leave the retailer in late February. Gap CEO Art Peck will directly oversee the brand until the company finds a replacement.   

An historic department store building that closed its doors and has been empty for 30 years — long enough for a tree to start growing inside it — has been given a brand new lease on life.  

Every year after the holidays the same topics seem to dominate media coverage of the retail industry. The numbers are in, who’s closing stores? Who’s going out of business? Who are this year’s casualties in the great Clicks vs. Bricks War? This focus on post-holiday attrition is part of a larger conversation about the future of retail, one often tinged by notes of panic, dire predictions, and dramatic pronouncements such as: Online retail is damaging brick-and-mortar. Malls are dead! Retailers are shuttering hundreds of stores! 

The CEO of Lane Bryant has stepped down just four months after receiving a big promotion.      Linda Heasley has resigned as chief executive of plus-sized apparel retailers Lane Bryant and Catherines, which are owned by Ascena Retail, The New York Post reported. Heasley was appointed CEO of Lane Bryant in 2013, after a successful six year stint as chief executive of The Limited. She was given the additional title of CEO of Catherines this past October as part of a company reorganization.    

Eloquii, a fashion-forward online apparel retailer for women sizes 14 to 28, plans to test a physical store.   The retailer plans to open a “concept shop” in Fashion Centre at Pentagon City in Arlington, Va., Women’s Wear Daily reported. The 2,600-sq.-ft. store is scheduled to open in March.     Although only a three-month lease was signed, Eloquii executives see the store as a test to determine the potential for a brick-and-mortar strategy, the report said.