Department Store

San Francisco –- Gap Inc. has approved a new $500 million share repurchase authorization for the company’s common stock, in an effort to return excess cash to shareholders. The new $500 million repurchase program for Gap’s stock follows the company’s previous $1 billion share repurchase program.   

Bloomfield Hills, Mich. -- The Mall at University Town Center has opened in Sarasota, Fla. Featuring more than 100 retailers and restaurants, well over half of which are unique to the Sarasota-Manatee market. The Mall at UTC is the only newly built enclosed regional shopping center to open in the United States this year.  

Dublin, Calif. –- Ross Stores opened 20 new Ross Dress for Less and eight new DD’s Discounts stores across 14 different states in September and October.     These new locations are part of the off-price retailer’s plans to add a total of approximately 75 Ross and 20 DD’s Discounts stores during 2014.  

Green Bay, Wis. -- Shopko is expanding its omnichannel ship-to-store program, including the ability to buy products online and ship them to the store for free. After a successful pilot launch, the retailer expanded the program to its 310 locations across the U.S.    

Wilmington, Del. -- Total online Thanksgiving Day sales will top the $1 billion mark this year for the first time ever, increasing year-over at least 23.4%, with most purchases made after 6 p.m., according to BestBlackFriday.com, a website providing information regarding holiday sale pricing, shopping tips and news.  

Birmingham, Ala. -- Brookwood Village, a mixed-use development located in the affluent Mountain Brook and Homewood area of Birmingham, Ala., announced that leading specialty bedding company Mattress Firm will join the shopping center’s merchant roster in 2015.       

Seattle –- Amazon.com and Sears Holdings Corp. have both reportedly removed men’s rings featuring the Nazi swastika emblem from their websites after public complaints. According to the Wall Street Journal, in both instances the items were sold by third-party vendors, but the companies handled the complaints differently.  

Washington, D.C. -- The average person celebrating Christmas, Kwanza and/or Hanukkah will spend $804.42, up nearly 5% from 2013’s actual $767.27, according to the National Retail Federation’s 13th annual Holiday Consumer Spending Survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. In other results, the average shopper plans to do 44% of their holiday shopping online, the most in the survey’s history.