Sales & Marketing

Costa Mesa, Calif. — Uniqlo is expanding into Southern California. The Japanese apparel retailer will open its first stores in the region this fall, at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

Uniqlo announced announced it will an additional location in Northern California, at the Sunvalley Shopping Center in Concord. Also in the works: a store at Stamford Town Center, Stamford, Conn.
 
The retailer, owned by Japanese holding company Fast Retailing Co., currently has 17 stores in the United States.

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores is partnering with FabricTraditions, a leading producer of printed fabrics for the home sewing industry, to bring the Creating New Traditions collection of fabrics made entirely in the United States to all Jo-Ann stores nationwide and Joann.com.

FabricTraditions will donate a portion of sales to The National Military Family Foundation.

Los Angeles, Calif. — Westwood Financial Corp., a national owner-operator of shopping centers, has completed remodeling work at North Park Plaza shopping center in Phoenix, Ariz. Safeway anchors the center. Regional and national tenants include Frazee Paint, Peter Piper Pizza, Subway and Great Clips.

Improvements to the 101,361-sq.-ft. center include a new façade, covering columns with stone, refreshed landscaping and a two-tone paint color scheme.

Jos. A. Bank is in the process of acquiring Everest Topco, a portfolio company of Golden Gate and parent company of the Eddie Bauer brand.

The purchase price for Eddie Bauer consists of a combination of $564 million in cash and approximately 4.7 million new shares of common stock of Jos. A. Bank, issued to Everest Topco at $56 per share, a premium to the pre-announcement share price.

Seattle — Starbucks Coffee Company is opening its first store in Brunei, the company’s 64th global market, and its 100th store in Singapore, which will give people with autism the opportunity for employment and skills.

Cheshunt, U.K. — Major British supermarket chain Tesco plc has reportedly been the victim of a data breach. According to CNBC, hackers have gained access to the personal data of more than 2,000 Tesco customers and posted it online.

Sporting equipment and apparel manufacturer Bauer Performance Sports expanded its product offering in the baseball and softball world with the acquisition of those businesses from Easton-Bell Sports.

Bauer agreed to pay Easton-Bell Sports $330 million for Easton’s baseball and softball business in a deal that adds the well known Easton brand to Bauer’s existing stable of brands such as Bauer, Mission, Maverik, Cascade, Inaria and Combat.

White Plains, N.Y. — Overall online shopping rose 8% during the week before Valentine's Day compared to the same period in 2013. Growth was particularly strong in the categories of gifts (up 20%), apparel (up 17%) and health and beauty (up 15%), and department stores (34%) compared to the previous year.