Department Store

Who says you can’t go home again?   Certainly not Gap Inc., which appointed Jamie Gersch as the senior VP, chief marketing officer of its Old Navy banner, reported adage.com. She replaces Ivan Wicksteed, who left the company in March. She will come aboard at the end of October.  

The Bon-Ton Stores is getting its holiday team in place.   The department store chain is eyeing 13,000 new associates to service customers across all store locations during the busy holiday season. Another 500 associates will fill positions across all of Bon-Ton Stores’ distribution centers and its e-commerce fulfillment center.  

Simon Properties has announced the impending arrivals of Cartier and Hermes at its Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California. This marks Hermes’ first new U.S. store in five years, according to Simon.   The 6,000-sq.-ft. Hermes shop, which will reside near Neiman Marcus in the center of the newly updated center, is scheduled to open in late 2017 or early 2018. Its focus will be on men's, women's, home, and equestrian collections.   

Pacific Commons, located in the famed Gold Rush town of Fremont, California, will be getting a refresh, said owner Vestar.   The 1.2 million-sq.-ft. lifestyle and power center will be refurbished with new indoor-outdoor dining areas, trellis-enhanced landscaping, stone and wood seat walls, a fountain, and a gathering area with fire pits.   

Sears is hitching a ride with Uber — and inviting its loyal shoppers along.   A new program, called Rider Rewards, is designed to award Sears shoppers for using Uber’s ride service. Customers that link their Sears Shop Your Way loyalty plan to their Uber account will earn $2 in loyalty points for every Uber trip they take. Besides points, the loyalty program also tailors deals to members. Drivers can also take advantage of the program, and earn up to $1,000 in certain markets.   

Forest City Realty Trust has announced the completion of an agreement with Arlington County, Virginia, to transform Ballston Common Mall in a mixed-use project to be renamed Ballston Quarter.   The public-private partnership will open up the existing enclosed mall, create a public plaza in the space, and add a 406-residence residential tower adjacent to the retail center. The plan also calls for infrastructure improvements including a renovated pedestrian bridge and new landscaping  

A high-quality site experience makes Amazon the place where more than half (55%) of consumers go to first for products online.    That’s according to the second annual “State of Amazon” study from personalization platform company BloomReach, which found that search engines and retailers lost almost equal ground with consumers, 28% and 16% respectively, while Amazon increased its share by 11% over last year. Fifty-three percent felt Amazon had the best site experience overall.  

Phillips Edison has acquired the Harbour Village Shopping Center in Jacksonville for an estimated $24.9 million, according to the Jacksonville Business Journal.   The center was sold by a joint venture of MMG Equity Partners and Global Fund Investments, which purchased it in a foreclosure sale for $12.6 million in 2011. At that time, Harbour Village was 86% occupied.