Department Store

The Woodlands, Texas – Conn’s Inc. reported net income of $27.73 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, up 57% from $17.66 million in the same quarter the prior fiscal year. The retailer intends to open 15 to 20 new stores during fiscal 2015.

Net sales grew 45% to $301.63 million from $250.34 million, and same-store sales increase 33.4%. Conn’s said significant sales growth was reported across all major product categories during the quarter, and the company opened six new stores in that time.

Duluth, Minn. -- Ascena Retail Group, parent to the Maurices, DressBarn and Lane Bryant banners, announced the 900th Maurices store opening. The Fresno, Calif., store will officially open later this month, joining 899 other stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Maurices will open 60 new stores by the end of its fiscal year in July 2014. In addition to new store openings, Maurices is remodeling or expanding 80 stores this year.  

The company's long-term goal is to reach over 1,200 stores domestically and 100 stores in Canada.

Tempe, Ariz. — DSW, Nordstrom Rack and Total Wine & More have leased space at the 1.3 million-sq.-ft. Tempe Marketplace in Tempe, Ariz.

DSW will open a 20,000-sq.-ft. store in mid April. Nordstrom Rack plans to open a 35,000-sq.-ft. store in October. Total Wine & More, the largest independent fine wine retailer in the country, will occupy 20,000 sq. ft. and plans to open in October.

Vestar developed and owns Tempe Marketplace.
 

Chattanooga, Tenn. — The Cheesecake Factory and H&M will open at Fayette Mall in Lexington, Ky., as part of a redevelopment by owner CBL & Associates Properties.

The redevelopment will renovate a former Sears store and expand the mall entrance to create 115,000 sq. ft. of new retail space for a mix of fashion and home furnishing stores and restaurants. Construction has begun, and CBL expects the work to be completed this fall.

I recently attended the 2014 SPECS (Store Planning, Equipment, Construction Services) conference in Grapevine, Texas, and came away with some fascinating food for thought. The event, which is produced by Chain Store Age, celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.

New York -- Kohl’s Corp.’s chief merchandising officer, Donald A. Brennan, resigned his position, effective as of April 1, 2014. Kohl's disclosed Brennan's departure in a filing this week with securities regulators.

Under a separation agreement with the department-store operator, Brennan will receive a one-time severance payment equal to 2.9 times his annual salary plus the average of the three most-recent annual incentive compensation plan payments paid to him, according to a regulatory filing.

Omaha, Neb. -- Gordmans Stores announced that its president and CEO, Jeff Gordman, has given his resignation to the board. The retailer said that Gorman is retiring to spend more time with his family and pursue outside interests.

T. Scott King, the current chairman of Gordmans’ board, will serve as interim CEO while a search is conducted for a permanent successor to Gordman. King will take an unpaid leave of absence from his position as senior managing director at Sun Capital Partners while he serves in the interim position.

New York — Specialty apparel retailer Express has opened a three-level 28,000-sq.-ft. store in the I. Miller building New York City’s Times Square.

“It’s Express on steroids,” said Michael Weiss, the chairman and chief executive officer of Express. “This is an elevated presentation where the homes for each category are much more defined.”