Department Store

Coach Inc. has added a luxury retail veteran to its board of directors.

“We are extremely pleased that Andrea Guerra has agreed to join our board,” said Victor Luis, CEO at Coach Inc. “As Coach continues its transformation into a modern luxury lifestyle brand, Andrea's extensive exposure to a wide variety of best-in-class brands and his broad retail and international experience will prove valuable to our team."

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale, a premier regional mall in Broward County, Florida, has added France-based YellowKorner, a limited edition photo gallery, to its mix of more than 100 specialty retailers. YellowKorner is located across from Dillard’s upper mall entrance and next to Natuzzi in the nearly one million-sq.-ft. mall.

San Jose, Calif. – Consumers appear to have been feeling a seasonal hangover after what some analysts have called a relatively strong 2014 holiday season. According to the monthly Retail Performance Pulse for January 2015 from RetailNext, store sales and traffic both declined 7.7%

Coach's efforts to regain its upscale brand identity received a boost this month with the addition of a veteran luxury goods retailer to its board of directors.

“We are extremely pleased that Andrea Guerra has agreed to join our board,” said Victor Luis, CEO at Coach Inc. “As Coach continues its transformation into a modern luxury lifestyle brand, Andrea's extensive exposure to a wide variety of best-in-class brands and his broad retail and international experience will prove valuable to our team."

Millbury, Mass. -- Douglas Wine & Spirits, Visionworks and DSW are opening in early 2015 at The Shoppes at Blackstone Valley, in Millbury, Massachusetts.
 
Douglas Wine & Spirits opened February 1st and occupies a 5,400-sq.-ft. space between Sleepy’s and Guitar Center. Visionworks will be in opening in March in a 2,700-sq.-ft. space between Sephora and Feng Asian Bistro.

DSW will be making its appearance in early April in a 15,000-sq.-ft. space adjacent to Marshall’s.

Cincinnati – Post-holiday returns serve as a way to ensure the stress of the holiday season lasts into the New Year. According to a survey of about 1,200 adults by loyalty program provider LoyaltyOne, one out of every two U.S. shoppers (51%) say that returning gifts adds to their post-holiday stress.

Columbus, Ohio -- L Brands shareholders will receive a post-holiday gift in the way of a $2 a share special dividend. The news comes as the retailer, which also increased its ordinary annual dividend by 47% to $2 a share from $1.36 a share, reported significantly better than expected profits for its fourth quarter.

L Brands, whose brands include Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works and La Senza, said same-store sales increased 7% and total sales for the four-week period ended Jan. 31 increased 7% to $783.1 million.

The Emerging Trends in Retail conference will take place at a new data and time, but the big news is that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., president and CEO Doug McMillon will headline the annual event put on by the Center for Retailing Excellence.