Sales & Marketing

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears plans to close a store in the Loop section of downtown Chicago in April 2014. Sears spokesperson Howard Riefs announced the closing in an email which said the store’s 160 employees, most of whom are part-time, will be eligible to apply for jobs at other Sears stores in the area and also to receive severance.

Stein Mart has elected Burton M. Tansky to the company's board of directors. Tansky was with Neiman Marcus for 23 years, retiring as president and CEO in 2010.

Before being named as CEO for the Neiman Marcus Group in 2001, Tansky was president and CEO of Neiman Marcus Stores. Prior to this he served as CEO of Bergdorf Goodman, a division of the Neiman Marcus Group, and as president of Saks Fifth Avenue.

New York — ProHealth has signed a lease for a 10,913-sq.-ft. location at an endcap of the 187,650-sq.-ft. Glen Oaks Shopping Center in the Glen Oaks section of Queens, according to The Feil Organization, the center’s owner and manager. The lease brings the open-air center to 99% leased.

The medical services provider is renovating the façade and expanding the existing space to increase its frontage on Union Turnpike. ProHealth expects to open in March.

New York -- Convenience-store operator Wawa will license Applied Predictive Technologies’ (APT) merchandise optimization software, adding to Wawa’s current long term licenses for APT’s Test & Learn management system and Market Basket Analyzer. Wawa will leverage the merchandise optimization solution to maximize profitability of space and merchandise assortment plans, assess the impact of each merchandising change, and fine-tune merchandising strategy across more than 600 locations.

American Eagle Outfitters has named Jay L. Schottenstein, executive chairman of the board, as the company’s interim CEO. Schottenstein takes over for Robert Hanson, who is leaving the company.

Jacksonville, Fla. – Stein Mart, Inc. has named Burton M. Tansky to the company's board of directors. Tansky was with The Neiman Marcus Group for 23 years, retiring as president and CEO in 2010.

In a letter to congressional leaders, the National Retail Federation underscored the retail industry’s commitment to protecting sensitive consumer data in the wake of the recent international cyber attacks and thefts.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Company has selected Agilence Retail 20/20 as its exception reporting solution. The next-generation exception reporting solution will provide Brown Shoe Company with a platform for reporting on point-of-sale transactions, e-commerce, inventory adjustments, financials, and customer loyalty.