Retail

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.

Flushing, Queens -- Onex Real Estate Partners announced The Shops at SkyView Center has welcomed five new tenants to the growing roster of retailers during the third quarter.
 
The newest addition to Flushing’s mixed-use, multi-level shopping center includes Nordstrom Rack, the off-price retail division of Nordstrom, which officially opened on Sept. 10. Additionally, Justice & Brothers, a national retailer known for the best in tween fashion and accessories, catering to both boys and girls, has opened on Level D.
 

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.

Highland Village, Texas -- Trademark Property Co., the Fort Worth-based retail and mixed-use development, investment, and third-party services firm, announced that Whole Foods Market is now open at The Shops at Highland Village, in Highland Village, Texas. The store is the first Denton County location for the natural and organic foods retailer.

Virginia Beach, Va. -- Divaris Real Estate announced the signing of a lease with Paper Source for 2,700 sq. ft. of retail space in the Town Center of Virginia Beach. The next closest location for the retailer is in the Northern Virginia city of Alexandria.

Paper Source makes its Southeastern Virginia and Northeast North Carolina market debut on Main Street between Zushi Japanese Bistro and the soon-to-be-open Free People store. Paper Source is anticipated to open in first quarter 2015.

Dublin, Calif. -- dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc. will open a new store in Arizona, on Sept. 27. The store is located in the Squaw Peak Plaza in Phoenix.  

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

The return of LeBron James and much-anticipated Republican National Convention are not the only good news items about Cleveland, Ohio, and the entire northeast part of the State, home to over 4 million people.

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.