Department Store

Pacific Sunwear of California has hired financial advisors to help deal with its maturing debt, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In 2011, PacSun received a $100 million credit line from Wells Fargo and a $60 million loan from an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital. Both loans will be due in December, the report said.

Similar to other teen retailers, PacSun has been dealing with increased online competition and a shift in teen spending. The company has had three consecutive quarters of declining sales and negative same-store sales.

A new retailer aims to blend physical retailing with e-commerce — and to do it with Latin flair. The concept, Star World, is the brainchild of veteran retailer Jerry Azarkman, formerly with (and co-founder of) Curacao, a Los Angeles-based department store targeting Hispanics.

Star World made its debut in October, opening a two-level 30,000-sq.-ft. store in Huntington Park, California.

There has been a great deal of discussion and analysis in recent years regarding the ongoing struggles of many traditional department store giants. Brands like Sears, J.C. Penney and Macy’s are scratching and clawing to continue to stay afloat, together with a number of big-box retailers that are also struggling to remain competitive in an evolving retail marketplace.

A strong report on Friday from the Labor Department shows that retail employment was up 51,100 jobs in February on the heels of a gain of 52,100 in January.

Compared with February 2015, retail jobs were up by 247,300. The numbers exclude gasoline stations, automobiles and restaurants.

As part of a leveling of its technology spending, Nordstrom Inc. has made a reduction in its technology personnel.

According to Geekwire, Nordstrom recently laid off 10 employees in its technology department.

Saks Fifth Avenue is offering personalized service from store associates to customers beyond the confines of the store.

Partnering with personalized e-commerce technology provider Salesfoor, Saks is letting online customers create customizable Saks.com boutique pages. The pages contain personally curated assortments of Saks merchandise, accessible through a dedicated URL.

Market Track compared retail circular advertising in February 2016 vs. February 2015 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains.

Kohl’s added four comparable circulars in February 2016, promoting mainly short duration sales like “50% Two-Day Sale,” “Doorbusters,” and “Make a Point to Shop.” They attempted to leverage their rewards program with 3X the points during the “Make a Point to Shop” sales.

Ross Dress for Less announced three new stores, part of the retailer’s 2016 expansion program, which calls for 70 new locations.

Ross will open a new store and relocate a store in Mobile, Alabama on March 5. The new 25,000-sq.-ft. West Mobile store is located in Westwood Plaza, one mile east of the Mobile Regional Airport. The Mobile location is a 25,000-sq-ft. store that relocated into the McGowin Park East Shopping Center at the southeast corner of Interstate 65 and Highway 90.