Personnel Updates
• Burberry USA (73) announced Rod Manley has been named as the new Chief Marketing Officer. He will succeed Sarah Manley.
• DSW Inc. (55) announced William Jordan will be promoted to President of DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse. Mary Turner will be promoted to President of the Shoe Company and Shoe Warehouse in Canada. Debbie Ferree will be promoted to Vice Chairman and President of DSW Inc.
• J.Crew Group, Inc. (81) announced that Mickey Drexler, Chairman and former CEO has retired. Chad Leat will succeed him.
• JCPenney Company, Inc. (100) announced Mike Robbins has been appointed to Exec VP, Chief Stores and Supply Chain Officer. Truett Horne has joined the company as Chief Transformation Officer.
• Saks Incorporated (89) has recently promoted Anna Irving to Senior VP and GMM of women’s designer ready-to-wear.
• Tory Burch LLC (57) has named Pierre-Yves Roussel as CEO. Tory Burch will assume the role of Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer.
Financial Focus
• Gymboree Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The retailer will close all its Gymboree and Crazy 8 stores. It is planning to sell its Janie and Jack brand, which has 139 stores.
Mergers and Acquisitions
• Genesco Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its subsidiary Lids Sports Group to FanzzLids Holdings.
Industry Insight
• Bebe Stores Inc. unveiled an enhanced loyalty program and new revamped e-commerce site.
• H & M Hennes & Mauritz LP announced it is launching a new gender neutral collection. Starting January 24, customers can access the collection both in stores and online.
Real Estate
• Adore Me, Inc. announced it has opened its first 2 stores, in NJ and NY. The company plans to open 300 stores in the next 5 years, and has recently opened a new 126,000 sq. ft. distribution center in Secaucus, NJ.
• Chico’s FAS Inc. announced it will close at least 250 stores in the U.S. over the next three years.
• Gap Inc. announced it will close its Fifth Avenue flagship Gap store on January 20, 2019.
• Golf & Tennis Pro Shop Inc. said it will open at least six new PGA Tour Superstores in 2019, including its first ever in New England.
• JCPenney Company, Inc. announced it will close three stores this spring.
• Kohl’s Corporation announced that it plans to open four smaller format locations in 2019, and close four stores in KS, LA, and NY.
• RYU Apparel Inc. announced it has opened its second Toronto location. The new store is its sixth in Canada and eighth overall. The retailer also recently opened its first store on the East Coast of the United States. The new flagship spans 2,800 sq. ft. in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, NY.
• Saks Inc. plans to close its women’s store at Brookfield Place in Manhattan, NY. The 86,000 sq. ft. location has been in operation just over two years.
• Sears is planning to close an additional 50 to 80 store locations.
• Stage Stores Inc. announced it will convert approximately 220 additional stores to its Gordmans off-price banner by the middle of 2020, starting with some 70 stores this year.
• Uniqlo will take over the two-level H&M store at 22 S. State Street in New York City.
• Von Maur Inc. announced it will open 19 new Dry Goods stores in 2019. The openings will include the company’s first location in Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee.
Just because we don’t mention it here doesn’t mean it didn’t happen – or we didn’t capture it. In the past four weeks, we’ve updated more than 516 companies in the Apparel Specialty Stores and Department Stores & Shoe Retailers PLUS Databases, with many of those companies’ records updated at multiple points.
