Department Store

Ankeny, Iowa – Dick’s Sporting Goods and Gordmans are reportedly the anchor stores for a proposed shopping center in Ankeny, Iowa. According to the Des Moines Register, St. Louis-based developer Staenberg Group seeks to begin construction on the project, known as Delaware Commons, in the fall.

Staenberg Group is seeking to obtain environmental permits relating to wetlands on the property. The center also has space for a third main anchor store, several junior anchors, and other small stores and restaurants.

Instagram has become a mainstream social media tool for retailers. However, while most retailers limit their Instagram usage to maintaining an official page or encouraging customers to post photos with Instagram hashtags as part of promotional campaigns, some retailers are more forward-thinking in their Instagram approach.

Here are three retailers showing real insight in how they are leveraging Instagram to its fullest potential:

Redlands, Calif. -- Majestic Realty Retail announced today that it has signed lease agreements with four new retailers at its Mountain Grove at Citrus Plaza retail and entertainment center, including agreements with The Gap (7,500 sq. ft.), Banana Republic (7,500 sq. ft.), Old Navy (15,000 sq. ft.) and Ulta (10,000 sq. ft.).  An additional 100,000 sq. ft. of national and regional tenant leases are under negotiation and expected to be signed in September.

J.C. Penney is launching a new online sports store that will be powered by Fanatics, an online retailer of officially licensed sports merchandise.

Fanatics operates an e-commerce platform for hundreds of collegiate and professional sports teams, leagues and media sites. Now, it will provide sports fans with a selection of team apparel and merchandise at JCPenney.com, offering more than 300,000 licensed products spanning all the major sports leagues.

By Sanford Stein, founder, Stein LLC

With the point-of-sale tucked away in one’s backpack, pocket or purse, how does the store-based retailer expect to survive in an e-everything world? And what is to become of the malls, the meccas of economic indulgence that were driven by the shop-till-you-drop dynamic we thought would last forever? We are currently in a period of just such a change wave, driven by a dramatic demographic shift, corporate downsizing, economic stagnation, and rising costs.

Kansas City, Kansas -- Legends Outlets Kansas City announced that Coach is extending the stay of the area’s first Coach Factory pop-up location through the holidays, until January 2015.
 
Coach Factory opened its pop-up before Memorial Day weekend and has added new inventory almost daily since opening.
 

New York - Tiffany & Co. has named Jill Beraud as an executive VP, effective Oct. 13. Beraud will have responsibility for global retail operations including all sales channels in every region, as well as oversight of strategic store development and real estate.

Beraud, 54, joins Tiffany from salon product manufacturer Living Proof where she has been CEO since 2011. Prior to that, her experience includes senior-level executive and marketing roles at PepsiCo Inc., L Brands, Inc. and The Procter & Gamble Co., among others.

Casual apparel brand U.S. Polo Assn. has opened its first location in Brooklyn, in the vicinity of the Barclays Arena.

Designed by Montroy Andersen DeMarco (MADGI), New York, the 2,800-sq.-ft. space has a clean, modern feel and includes  the brand’s signature ‘flag wall’ fashioned out of folded T-shirts,  a jeans island and a T-shirt island, and a 12-ft.-long cash wrap counter