Retail

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group announced that Brazilian shoe and accessories retailer has opened its first U.S. store at the Town Center at Boca Raton, located in Boca Raton, Fla.

This opening marks Santa Lolla’s 105th location worldwide.

“We see Florida as an important part of our future expansion strategy and are very excited about the opening of our first U.S.-based boutique,” said Marcela Bussamra, marketing director for Santa Lolla.

DALLAS -- Zale Corp. announced that Jeannie Barsam has been named SVP merchandise planning and allocation, and Toyin Ogun has been named SVP human resources and customer service.

“Jeannie and Toyin add both critical experience and depth to our leadership team,” said Theo Killion, CEO. “These appointments exemplify the strategic investments we are making in organizational capability to drive our turnaround initiatives.”

Topeka, Kan. -- Collective Brands, the parent company of Payless ShoeSource, said Wednesday that its net loss narrowed slightly in the fourth quarter as sales improved in its wholesale unit. The performance beat Wall Street expectations.

For the three months ended Jan. 29, Collective Brands lost $10.1 million, compared with a loss of $10.9 million in the year-ago period.

New York City -- Building upon the momentum in retail real estate in the recovering economy, Chain Store Age has debuted a new community-oriented “micro-site” for retail real estate executives and shopping center developers. Called “Community” and accessible from chainstoreage.com, the new site offers such features as project of the week, mall marketing spotlight, and bylined articles from industry experts.

The National Governors Association named Walmart the recipient of its annual Public-Private Partnership Award at the closing of its 2011 Winter Meeting. The award is now in its fifth year and honors companies that have partnered with a governor's office to implement a program or project that positively affects the state's citizens. Walmart was nominated by Arkansas Gov.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation told federal transportation officials this week that a proposal to limit the number of hours truck drivers spend behind the wheel each day would increase costs for businesses and consumers while undermining intended safety benefits by putting more trucks on the road during the most-congested hours.

New York City -- Sales at Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Kohl’s surpassed analysts’ estimates in February amid gradually moderating temperatures and rising consumer confidence. However, analysts warned that a late Easter and rising gasoline prices could impact sales going forward.

Confidence among U.S. consumers rose in February to the highest level in three years, according to a Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index, as a drop in unemployment helped overcome concern over rising food and fuel costs.

DUBAI -- Tiffany and Co. announced it has named Frederic Cumenal as EVP effective March 10. Cumenal will be responsible for the company's businesses in Asia, Japan, Europe and emerging markets, and will report to chairman and CEO Michael Kowalski.

Cumenal joins Tiffany from the LVMH Group where most recently he was president and CEO of Moet and Chandon, S.A.