Retail

Bossier City, La. -- Covington, La.-based Stirling Properties said that it has been retained to provide comprehensive property and construction management and office leasing services for Louisiana Boardwalk, a 562,250-sq.-ft. retail/mixed-use development on the waterfront of Bossier City, La.

Garrison Investment Group of New York City recently acquired Louisiana Boardwalk and will re-launch the retail center as The Outlets at Louisiana Boardwalk.

Huntsville, Ala. -- Birmingham, Ala.-based Bayer Properties said it has been engaged by Institutional Mall Investors to oversee management of Bridge Street Town Centre, a mixed-use outdoor fashion center in Huntsville, Ala. IMI’s assets now represent 2 million sq. ft. of Bayer’s 12 million-sq.-ft. owned and managed portfolio.

New York -- J.C. Penney Co. has 43,000 less workers at the end of its most-recently completed fiscal year (February 2, 2012) than it did a year ago, according to a report filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Post reported.

The company finished its fiscal year with 116,000 full-time and part-time employees, down from 159,000 associates a year ago, the report said. 
 

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Co. is expanding its customer loyalty program to the supermarket channel and its Teavana stores as it looks to double membership from 4.5 million members at the end of October 2012 to approximately nine million members by the end of fiscal 2013.

Starbucks made the announcement at the company’s annual shareholders on Wednesday in Seattle. Also at the meeting, Starbucks investors rejected a shareholder proposal to prohibit the chain from making political contributions or forming a political action committee.

Houston -- Francesca's Holdings Corp. reported that net earnings in the fourth quarter rose 78% to $14.9 from $8.4 million in the same quarter last year. The company also said it plans to open 80 stores in fiscal year 2013.

Net sales in the quarter ended February 2, 2013, rose 40.6% to $86.7 million, compared with net sales of $61.7 million during the same period in fiscal 2011. Same-stores sales in the quarter increased 9.2%, driven by increased transactions and strong growth in its clothing and jewelry categories.

New York -- SkinnyPizza has signed an exclusive deal with Mogull Realty for multi-unit expansion into Manhattan. 

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Ross Stores Inc. said Thursday its fourth-quarter net income rose 23%, in line with analysts’ projections. The off-price retailer also announced that beginning with the second quarter of fiscal 2013 it will no longer report monthly sales. Instead, quarterly same-store store sales results will be provided with regularly scheduled earnings releases.
 

New York -- Importers and manufacturers who sell to America's major retailers are split as to whether they believe they will see growth and / or reductions in sales for the spring season, according to Capital Business Credit, a non-bank lender that services the retail sector.