Department Store

Sears Holdings Corp. is doing a much better job at cutting costs than at stopping its sales decline.

Retailers and academics are coming together to help drive continuing innovation in digital retailing.

“Our main mission is the advancement of digital retail through collaboration among academic and retail partners,” said Richard Last, senior director of the Global Digital Retail Research Center at the University of North Texas, during an interview with Chain Store Age.

Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th continues to expand north of the border.

Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th continues to expand north of the border.

The off-price retailer and Ivanhoé Cambridge announced an agreement to bring four new Saks Off 5th locations to Canada. The stores, the brand’s first in their respective markets, will open in four Ivanhoé Cambridge shopping centers: Tsawwassen Mills, Tsawwassen, B.C., Outlet Collection Winnipeg; Place Ste-Foy, Quebec City; and Montreal Eaton Centre, Montreal.

Here are the details on the four locations:

Rockville, Md. -- Federal Realty Investment Trust announced the addition of Ramsey D. Meiser to the newly created position of senior VP of mixed-use development reporting to executive VP of development Donald Briggs.

Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) is going green for its first store in Lower Manhattan.

The retailer will open a 25,000-sq.-ft. store at Westfield World Trade Center, set to open in spring 2016. It will be H&M’s 17th location in New York City, and its first U.S. store to apply for LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification.

Despite a few hiccups with site availability, Cyber Week 2015 on the whole was a huge success for the retail industry and bodes well for the remainder of the holiday season.

According to data from Adobe, from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, consumers spent $11 billion online. This marked a 15% increase from Cyber Week in 2014 and represented 30% of a total $39.5 billion in November online sales. Adobe predicts consumers will spend $1 billion a day online every day from Dec. 1- Dec. 18.

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. -- Kimco Realty Corp. announced that it purchased Christown Spectrum power center in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona for $115.3 million. The property is an 850,000 sq. ft. center situated one mile east of Interstate 17 and lies adjacent to the second-busiest light rail station in Phoenix.