Department Store

Waban, Mass. -- Sam's Club and Amazon.com deliver the best customer experience in the retail industry, according to the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual ranking of companies based on a study of 10,000 U.S. consumers. Sam's Club and Amazon.com continue their reign as the highest-rated retailers for the third straight year, each earning an "excellent" rating.

North Plainfield, N.J. — Roy D. Vice has joined Levin Management as VP of construction and development. In his new role, Vice will work closely with Levin’s property management and leasing teams to oversee all construction and development activities in the firm’s retail portfolio of more than 13 million square feet.

San Francisco -- Guess Inc. saw fourth-quarter profits slide 4% on softer sales in the three-month period.

Net income fell to $69.6 million from $72.5 million, and revenue for the quarter ended Feb. 1 dipped to $768.4 million from $815.1 million. Revenue results still beat Wall Street expectations of $758 million.

A study of 10,000 U.S. consumers’ attitudes about retail customer service saw Sam’s Club best Amazon.com and dozens of other retailers among a field of 268 companies.

By Dustin Watson, partner and director of sustainability, DDG

Place-making has become perhaps the essential element in creating value in today’s competitive retail environment.

Bloomington, Minn. -- Mall of America has launched a $325 million expansion project in cooperation with Mortenson, a U.S.-based construction and development services company, Hotel Development LLC, an enterprise of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, and the city of Bloomington, Minn.

Las Vegas -- 1960s-era The Boulevard Mall will receive a $25 million makeover in hopes of prompting an overall redevelopment of the Maryland Parkway corridor of Las Vegas.

The rehab, to be launched by owner Sansone Cos., which acquired the mall last December for $54.5 million, will be the property’s first major renovation in more than two decades. Sansone is looking at the renovation of the Boulevard as a catalyst in the overall redevelopment effort of the Maryland Parkway corridor.

Pacific Sunwear overcame weak mall traffic and bad weather to log its eighth consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth with a 2% comp increase in the fourth quarter.

The teen and young adult retailer said sales from continuing operations during the quarter ended Feb. 1 totaled $218.6 million compared to sales of $222.8 million during the fourth quarter the prior year, a period which included the benefit of an additional week which added sales of $9 million. PacSun ended its most recent fiscal year with 618 stores compared to 644 in the year earlier period.