Department Store

Toronto - Sears Canada Inc. has entered into a binding agreement with Concord Pacific Group of Companies to pursue the development of the 12-acre Sears site located at the North Hill Shopping Center in Calgary, Alberta. Closing under the agreement is conditional upon satisfaction of conditions such as site investigations and obtaining the approval from the city of Calgary for the project, which are expected to take some time.  

Houston - Elaine D. Crowley, 55, was appointed to the Stage Stores Inc. board of directors. Her appointment brings the board’s membership to 10 directors.

New York -- In a long-awaited ruling  handed down Monday by the New York State Supreme Court, J.C. Penney have been found to have "tortiously" interfered with Macy’s 2006 contract with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, when Penney entered into its own contract with Martha Stewart in 2011.

New York City — Forever 21 has taken space at the Mall at Bay Plaza, which is scheduled to open on August 14. The new store will span about 15,000 sq. ft.

A new 166,000-sq.-ft. Macy’s and an existing 150,000-sq.-ft. J.C. Penney will anchor the new mall. Forever 21 will join more than 100 retailers at Bay Plaza, including Kay Jewelers, Victoria Secret, H&M and Michael Kors.

Columbus, Ohio — Express Inc. confirmed that it has received a letter from Sycamore Partners, which owns approximately 9.9% of Express' outstanding shares, indicating that the private equity firm is interested in acquiring the company. In response, Express adopted a one-year “poison pill” shareholder rights plan that would double its shares of common stock in the event any stockholder acquires 10% or more of the company.

Secaucus, N.J. — The Children’s Place Inc. has named Susan Sobbott to the board of directors as a Class II director to serve for a three-year term expiring in 2017. Sobbott currently holds the position of president of Global Corporate Payments, a global division of the American Express Company. From 2004 to early 2014, she was President and General Manager of American Express Open. The addition of Sobbott expands the company's board of directors to eight.

It looks like Sycamore Partners, which owns approximately 9.9% of Express’ outstanding shares, is interested in acquiring the retailer.

Express confirmed that it has received a letter from Sycamore and has established a special committee of the board to determine a course of action that serves the best interest of all stockholders. The retailer has also engaged Perella Weinberg Partners LP and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP as advisers to itself and the special committee.

Swedish clothing retailer H&M will be celebrating the July 17 opening of its museum-inspired Fifth Avenue flagship store with the help of artist Jeff Koons.

The partnership — H&M’s first artist collaboration — will take the form of a handbag that Koons designed in the shape of his famous stainless steel balloon dog sculpture. The handbag will be sold starting July 17 at H7M stores in New York, Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles.