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A 26-storey apartment block is planned for the spot once occupied by Younkers department store in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. The Younkers building was destroyed by fire in 2014. Another Younkers store went up in flames in 1978 in Des Moines killing 11 people. Saks incorporated indirectly acquired the company in 1998, then sold it and other names to Bon-Ton stores for $1.1 bn in 2006. It still operates around 50 stores.

Stockmann plc's Board of Directors has appointed Lauri Veijalainen as Stockmann's new Chief Executive Officer as of 12 September 2016. Lauri Veijalainen has served as Stockmann's interim CEO since April 2016. Before that he was the company's CFO from August 2015. He joined Stockmann in 2010 as Development Director for the Group's International Operations.

See press release

Illustration 'Stockman has a new CEO september 2016' (png - 0.15Mo)

Department store operator Parkson Retail will sell one of loss-making units in the Chaoyang district of Beijing. The sale is expected to bring in CNY1.67bn ($250m) for the group., sending its share price surging. Net proceeds from the deal will be used for new business investment opportunities, Parkson said, and is expecting to book a CNY900m one-off gain. The commercial property is being used as a Parkson department store, with seven levels above ground for retail and three levels below ground for a car park. The sale is pending shareholders approval, but analysts expect it to go through as Beijing real estate prices have risen to new heights and the sale would bring a boost to Parkson which has been in the red since 2010.

Illustration 'Parkson to sell Beijing Department Store (september 2016)' (png - 0.48Mo)

Fast Retailing has opened its largest store in the region in Singapore's Orchard central shopping mall. It is Uniqlo's 25th store in Singapore and brings its Southeast Asian presence to 130 outlets. Covering 2700m² on three floors, the store is part of the company's plan to generate 5 trillion yen ($48bn) by 2020 to remain competitive with H&M and Zara. Keeping prices low is a central ingredient of the plan.

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Japan department store giant Isetan Mitsukoshi will shutter its Chiba store, near Tokyo, next March following years of substantial losses. This adds to a string of department store closures as the sector adapts to shrinking consumer spending.

Ikea is opening a pop-up restaurant in its Shoreditch, London, location. Called "The Dining Club", the customers will be able to prepare food for their friends and family supervised by trained head chefs. They will be able to choose brunch, lunch or dinner for a group of up to 20 people. The restaurant, open for 2 weeks in September, will also feature an Ikea café serving Swedish delicacies.

The only thing standing between a woman and a perfect look is a pothole. This, along with Bobbi Brown and an arsenal of her makeup artists, of course. Tomorrow, 40 of the brand's makeup artists — 20 in New York City and 20 in Los Angeles — will partake in the Bobbi Brown x Uber Retouch campaign, driving around in Ubers to give makeup touch-ups to riders in 10 minutes or less. They will use items from Brown's new Retouching Collection, as an expansion of the original Retouching Powder into a brand. The Uber makeovers are part of the launch and promotion of two new retouching products.

Illustration 'Bobbi Brawn's mobile makeovers with Uber - September 2016' (png - 0.11Mo)

Amazon plans to open dozens of new pop-up stores in U.S. shopping malls over the next year to showcase its range of connected devices. Job listings in markets including Miami and West Hartford, CT seek to fill a number of positions for "Amazon device pop-up stores," noting the concept has "emerged from the test phase with a goal to expand and grow." Amazon has run temporary pop-ups and kiosks in California malls since 2014, aimed at featuring devices include the hands-free Echo speaker as well as the Fire TV, Fire tablets, Kindles and the now-defunct Fire phone. The pop-ups are separate from the full brick-and-mortarstores that Amazon opened in Seattle last year and is planning for San Diego, CA and Portland, OR

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Marks & Spencer has confirmed it has worked on a second Alexa Chung Archives collection, launching November 1 for the important Holiday period. Pieces for the 27-piece winter collection will be named after streets in Leeds, northern England, where M&S was founded in 1884."For this second collection I wanted to focus on a more luxe evening wear vibe to lead us into the winter party season and was thrilled to once again to discover an abundance of inspiration within the Marks & Spencer archive," the model and TV presenter said in a statement. M&S said Chung's first collection launched in April saw 20,000 pieces shifted by late afternoon on the first day, with the hero item, the ruffled Harry blouse, sold out.

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British retailer John Lewis has teamed with TrueStart, an investment fund specializing in retail, to launch the Eureka Initiative, which aims to help start-ups by offering innovative new products and services.

John Lewis has launched 'Locally Made', an initiative to support close-to-store UK gifting and homewares suppliers and manufacturers.

As announced previously, Takashimaya has opened its first Vietnam store in Ho Chi Minh City's Saigon Centre. The store, the largest in the country with 15 000 m², takes up five floors in the new centre, with food on the ground floor. Many of the higher-end fashion brands are appearing for the first time in Vietnam. Takashimaya also operates in Singapore and Shanghai, and plans to open in Bangkok next year.

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London department store Selfridges opened its Christmas store on August 1st… with just 145 shopping days left in the Holiday buying period. The high-end retailer launched the festive department on its fourth floor, complete with 50,000 decorations. Among this year's big trends are personalised decorations, disco gems, warm and white metallics, and Nordic wood. Geraldine James, Christmas home and decorations buyer, said: "We have so many customers visiting from all over the world and eager to snap up festive souvenirs on their summer holidays, which they can't buy at home. So, we have to make sure we're ready to showcase Christmas decorations they will truly treasure."

Sonia Rykiel, a pioneer in knit dressing and fashion that was comfortable as well as stylish, has died aged 86. She started in the fashion industry by designing maternity knits for herself in the early 1960s and built up a steady following of affluent shoppers and celebrities including Audrey Hepburn.

El Corte Ingles has announced its latest annual results: sales are up 4.3% for the group to €15.2 billion. Profit increased 34% to €158 m and EBITDA up 1.4% to €912.5. All retail formats of the group improved sales except the hypermarkets which reduced selling space. Department stores were up 7.3% to €9.5 bn.

See press release

UK retail giant John Lewis is investing £9m in its beauty halls. Ed Connolly, buying director for fashion and beauty at John Lewis, said: "Beauty is one of the best performing categories at John Lewis and a significant footfall driver, so this investment is a reflection of our ambition in this space. "We are continuing to bring new and contemporary brands to our customers across both fashion and beauty, and we have one of the widest and best beauty selections of any department store in the world." The investment follows the opening of John Lewis's own Hair & Beauty spa in its Birmingham store, and the Clarins Beauty Bar at John Lewis flagship London Oxford Street store last year.

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Nike has formally released the Nike+ mobile application it announced earlier this year, unleashing an array of features and content that includes a social feed of Nike products, training advice from professional athletes, invitations to athletic events, booking for one-on-one retail appointments and other capabilities.

Nordstrom VP Olivia Kim, responsible for many of the retailer's in-store and online pop-up events, has designed a range of footwear and apparel to celebrate the 50th anniversary of iconic skateboarding brand Vans. Some of Kim's Vans designs are exclusive to Nordstrom, and are available now through Sept. 4 online and in Nordstrom stores in Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, McLean, VA and Vancouver, BC. The Vans effort, a celebration of a half-century of the iconic California skate brand and the attendant lifestyle, is aimed at back-to-school shoppers, but Kim says that sneakers like those from Vans are now an integral part of fashion that's acceptable to wear everywhere—not just in school, but also dressed up and out on the town, and even in the office.

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South Korean government will spend KRW30bn ($27m) next year to boost the fashion and lifestyle industry, supporting the entire process from research and design to marketing and export. They are among seven industries that the government will invest in, including sports and leisure.

John Lewis is to open six concessions in Myer department stores in Australia by next year. The first concession will be in the new Warringah store on the outskirts of Sydney before Christmas. Melbourne, Perth, Bondi, Chadstone and central Sydney will follow in 2017, taking the number of John Lewis shop-in-shops to 30 worldwide.

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Events at the department store chain's Paris flagship include a Louis Vuitton pop-up shop, a Maria Luisa exhibition and a doll auction.

A year after Nordstrom introduced Space, its in-store boutique dedicated to advanced fashion, it's launching the concept in four new locations. Beginning this month, Space will roll out in Nordstrom's stores at the Mall at Green Hills in Nashville, Tenn., and The Grove in Los Angeles. On Sept. 16, Nordstrom will open its first Toronto store in Eaton Centre, followed by Yorkdale Centre on Oct. 21. Both locations will open with Space. Space is largely the work of Olivia Kim, Nordstrom's vice president of creative projects, who was hired from Opening Ceremony in 2013. "When we originally conceptualized the idea it was to fill this white space in our designer offering," Kim said. "We were doing so well with a lot of the mainstay European collections and had a really productive advanced contemporary world, but there was this whole missing area, designers who are typically found in boutiques and kind of needed a little more explanation than just throwing them on the floor."

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Australian department store retailer David Jones has launched a quarterly print magazine called 'Jones' alongside a weekly app. The spring issue's 250,000 print run will see 120,000 copies mailed to David Jones' American Express Platinum Card holders. The remainder will be distributed through its 40 Australian stores or sold over the counter in-store and via newsagents for A$9.95.

Saks Fifth Avenue and Look Good Feel Better will host the fifth annual National Beauty Editors Day at the retailer's flagship location on Fifth Avenue. The nonprofit, which helps individuals with cancer tend to appearance-related side effects from treatments, along with Saks, has selected 26 brands and 25 editors to be on hand at the event. One hundred percent of registration fees go to Look Good Feel Better, and the retailer will give 10 percent of all beauty sales made that day to the organization. Additionally, all 51 brand and magazine partners donated $1,500 to the cause, and for those who donate $50 or more on-site, they'll receive a limited-edition Oscar de la Renta scarf created exclusively for the charity. Similar to previous years, the event is expected to bring in 350 registered consumers and about $100,000 for Look Good Feel Better.

Illustration 'Saks and Look Good Feel Better Team up' (png - 0.45Mo)