eCommerce

New York – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. on Friday closed its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange with its shares up 38% from its I.P.O., closing at $93.89.

The stock opened for trade on Friday at $92.70 shortly, a 36% jump above its initial public offering price of $68 a share. More than 100 million shares changed hands in composite trading in the first 10 minutes of trading.

Niagara Falls, N.Y. -- Macerich announced that its outlet property Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA will open the doors of its planned expansion on Oct. 23. The new expansion delivers nearly 175,000 sq. ft. and opens with 35 new tenants, and more to come in 2015.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Company has invested $9 million in Jack Erwin, an online men’s shoe brand that launched last year. It’s Brown’s first investment in a startup.

Founded by Ariel Nelson and Lane Gerson, Jack Erwin creates high-quality men’s shoes, selling them directly to consumers for under $200 a pair.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – A $400 million loan Eddie Lampert, the CEO and largest shareholder of Sears Holdings Corp., is making to Sears this month reportedly is only enough to last the struggling retailer for three months. According to Bloomberg, global ratings agency Fitch Ratings is projecting that Sears will need $4 billion in capital to avoid running out of cash altogether in 2016.

Raleigh, N.C. -- Northwood Ravin has announced six new service retailers and restaurants for Bradford, the multi-use development in the northeast corner of Davis and High House Roads adjacent to the desirable Preston neighborhood of Cary, North Carolina.

Dublin, Calif. -- dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc., will open a new store in the California Central Valley on Sept. 27. The store is located in the Shaw Village Shopping Center in Clovis.  

Including this new location, dd’s Discounts will operate approximately 150 locations in 13 states and is on schedule to complete its expansion plan to open approximately 20 locations in 2014.

Houston -- JLL announced it has expanded its retail tenant representation capabilities in Houston with the addition of Matt Parsons. In his new role, Parsons will be responsible for identifying and securing new space for expanding retailers in the market, and will partner with Mark Raines, who joined JLL in July to lead the firm’s Houston retail brokerage practice.



New York -- Fairway Group Holdings Corp. has named Jack Murphy, a veteran retail executive with strong experience in specialty food retailing, as CEO.

Murphy was a co-founder of natural foods grocer Fresh Fields, which was sold to Whole Foods Market. Most recently he served as CEO of Earth Fare, an organics and natural food chain with locations in the Southeast and Midwest.