Friday, February 23
International: Feb. 23, 2001
Skechers USA Inc., the lifestyle footwear company based in Manhattan Beach, Calif., has announced plans to open stores in London, Dusseldorf and Paris; the London flagship store, loc...
L.A. Dye & Print: Closure Could Be First of Several
News that one of Southern California’s largest dye houses, Pico Rivera, Calif.-based L.A. Dye & Print Works, will be closing its doors in the face of escalating natural gas prices has some...
Click & Dress Online
Online shoppers earning their beenz and collecting their smart hangtags will want to look into Click & Dress as well. A software product from Portland, Ore.-based Imaginarix, Cli...
Apparel Store of the Future?
Retailers get a glimpse of shopping without sales associates at GlobalShop ...
San Diego FGI Announces Style Awards
The Fashion Group International of San Diego held its fifth annual Style Awards and gala on Feb. 10. Award winners included Terry Keefer, owner of My Magnin (the S...
Tags Go High-Tech
In the era of futuristic stores stocked with computer-friendly clothes, wired with everything from temperature controls to MP3 players, even the apparel hangtags are getting...
Sophisticated Swimwear from Brigitte Couture
Brigitte Couture is the sort of swimwear one might imagine some elegant, worldly jet-set type wearing to some luxe watering hole on Capri or poolside at Monte Carlo’s Hotel ...
National: Feb. 23, 2001
Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc. is planning to open a 30,000-square-foot off-price Nordstrom Rack store ...
Azria Does It His Way at BCBG's Fall 2001 Show
NEW YORK—Things started out fairly mellow, with Frank Sinatra’s voice wafting over the crowd waiting in Bryant Park for BCBG/Max Azria’s Fall 2...
From Retail to E-Tail and Back
The tumultuous process of sorting out online retailing continues, yet we find brick and mortar openings, too....
IMRA Study Finds a Wired Retail Industry
The retail industry in general has become wired, with Webs of business-to-business(B2B) and business-to-consumer(B2C) software and sites linking vendors and retailers, and retailers and their custome...
Changes to L.A. Business Tax Proposed
Representatives from several businesses in downtown Los Angeles had the opportunity to voice their concerns about the current business tax system to city officials at a meeting hosted by the...
StyleStandard Internet Technology for Apparel Apps
Beaverton, Ore.-based Oswego.group has begun offering the StyleStandard suite of software products for apparel and footwear supply-chain communications....
QuickDog Sniffs Out Lands' End Sales
San Francisco-based QuickDog Inc., a consumer preference personalization software firm, has added an average of 10 percent to the order value of customers who used its Personal Shopper service on th...
Tech Movers
Ken F. Wilson has been named president and chief executive officer of Toronto-based InQuent Technologies Inc., an Internet platform service provider hellip; Randy Kluck has ...
Barish Nicholson Trunk Show Set for Saks
Aficionados of Los Angeles apparel style might want to take a look at the Barish Nicholson Spring 2001 Trunk Show, to be held March 1 and 2 at Saks Fifth Avenue Beverly Hill...
Movers: Feb. 23, 2001
Scott Bowman has been named chief executive officer of Marc Jacobs Intern...
Apparel Info on the Web
The Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD Group Inc., a marketing information group, has launched NPDFashionworld, a for-subscription Web site designed to provide secure access to timely market da...
James Joins Staff at California Apparel News
California Apparel News has added veteran journalist Darryl James to its staff of writers covering apparel manufacturing, textiles and retail on the West Coast....
Proposed Retail Development Calls for Closure of Brentwood Street
A valuable 210-foot-long pie slice of land near a major intersection in the tony Brentwood section of West Los Angeles could be converted to a $27-million mini-mall and upscale retail center under a h...
Sutter's Jeans Maker Moves to Sausalito, Opens D.C. in Laredo
South San Francisco-based denim manufacturer San Francisco Jean Company, which produces the Sutter’s and Laura C. denim labels, recently announced plans to move the company’s ...
Have You Earned Your Beenz Today?
New York-based Beenz.com has launched RewardzCodes, a marketing ploy that allows companies in the apparel industry to reward consumers via codes on their packaging that consumers the...
California: Feb. 23, 2001
Tampa, Fla.-based Tropical Sportswear International Corporation, which markets and manufactures branded and private brand men’s and women’s casu...
Lycra and Tactel Trends
Elegance and self-expression are key for 2002 The elegance of the 1920s combined with the 1960s-inspired celebration of self-expression will co-exist in summer 2002—at least in the r...
USA Networks and SportsLine.com Enter Multi-year E-Commerce Partnership
New York-based entertainment conglomerate USA Networks Inc. and Ft. Lauderdale-based SportsLine.com Inc., the Internet sports media company that has rel...
Economy: Feb. 23, 2001
A key barometer of consumer confidence was in free fall in February, dropping to its lowest level in more than seven years, and intensifying expectations that the Federal R...
Friday, February 16
January Retail Sales Up, Inventories Down
The 2001 retail space odyssey got underway in earnest in January, with retailers in almost all categories posting strong sales numbers despite a holiday season so bad that it led to store closings a...
National: Feb. 16, 2001
The America Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) has formed the AAFA Social Responsibility Committee, a new committee to review production and manufacturing concerns such as factory ...
International: Feb. 16, 2001
Milan-based jeweler Bulgari has formed a joint venture with hotelier Marriott International, with plans to open seven Bulgari Hotels over...
XLarge Promotes Menares
Los Angeles-based streetwear manufacturer XLarge has announced the promotion of Maurice Menares to director of retail operations, public relations and advertising. Menares is the former store manage...
Movers: Feb. 16, 2001
San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co. announced that James Lewis, president of Levi Strauss, the Americas, is leaving the company to pursue other interests in New Yor...
Downtown L.A. to Draw More Residents, Major Grocery Store
Residential units available in the heart of downtown Los Angeles (which covers roughly 65 blocks) are expected to rise by 55 percent, increasing to almost 18,400 units by the year 2004, according to...
Charlie Rocket Revamps Girls Line
Los Angeles-based children’s manufacturer Charlie Rocket will re-launch its girls’ clothing line for Fall 2001 at the New York’s ENK show in March. The collection continues its classic childre...
MAGIC: Taking Care of Business
MAGIC International, the apparel industry’s semi-annual pilgrimage to the desert, got off to its traditional quiet start for its Feb. 13–16 run in Las Vegas, but exhibitors and buyers said they were anticipati...
Bernard's Forecast: Tapped Out Americans, Hard Pressed Retailer
The first new year’s forecast from retail analyst Kurt Barnard, president of Montclair, N.J.-based Bernard’s Retail Trend Report, finds little to cheer about in the near-term future. “Americans are tap...
MAGIC: Fall Forward
Fur, fur and more fur—that was the biggest news for
Report Highlights Small Business Misconceptions about Health Insurance
More than half of California’s small businesses are not offering health insurance to their employees, according to a recent report published jointly by the University of California at...
Hot Topic Tests Plus-Size Junior Stores
City of Industry, Calif.-based Hot Topic Inc., the mall-based specialty retailer of music-licensed and music-influenced apparel and acce...
Economy: Feb. 16, 2001
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said the economy has stabilized after a rough start at the beginning of the year, but warned there are continued risks looming over the econom...
West Coast Collective: Looking for a Few Good Menswear Retailers
The three-year-old menswear show West Coast Collective has been on a mission to create an exclusive, upscale menswear show on the West Coast that provides a smaller, more personal al...
Business Tax Reform Meeting Planned for Downtown L.A.
The Business Tax Advisory Committee (BTAC) will host a tax reform meeting for downtown businesses at noon on Feb. 22 at the Los Angeles Public Library’s central branch on 630 W. Fifth...
California: Feb. 16, 2001
A U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles denied a request by Southern California Edison (SCE) to order the California Public Utilities Commission to raise electricity rates for ...
Desert Passage on the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas fashion isn’t all it’s been “tacked out” to be in the past, according to retailers at the new Desert Passage shops in the Aladdin Resort and Casino, located jus...
Friday, February 9
Economy: Feb. 9, 2001
The manufacturing sector, which accounts for 20 percent of the entire U.S. economy, is now officially in a recession, according to data from the National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM) t...
Kellwood's Ivy Jumps to ENC
St. Louis-based Kellwood Company has moved its Ivy brand of moderate sportswear and dress line to its ENC division, citing a better fit with ENC’s moderate and bridge mark...
National: Feb. 9, 2001
New York-based 7th on Sixth Inc., the arm of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) that puts on the New Y...
Hot Kiss Takes an L.A. Stand with Larger, Fully Staffed Showroom
Los Angeles-based junior manufacturer Hot Kiss has moved to a larger West Coast showroom, which the company plans to keep open five days a week in a bid to entice retailers to begin thinking of the s...
International: Feb. 9, 2001
Robert B. Zoellick’s appointment as the George W. Bush administration’s new trade representative has received unanimous confirmation from the U.S. Senate; Zoellick was a senior economic advise...
Ben Sherman Eyes West Coast Retail, Launches Women's
LONDON—Ben Sherman, one of the United Kingdom’s top performing menswear brands, is targeting the U.S. market with an aggressive expansion strategy this year that includes a new flagship store i...
Body Glove Footwear Taps Rockey for Board
Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based Body Glove Footwear has named industry veteran Helen M. Rockey to its board of directors. Rockey was most ...
MAGIC Shows Bright Prospects
Big return for WWIN...
Movers: Feb. 9, 2001
Amy Schoening has been named to the newly created position of chief marketing officer for San Francisco-based Gap...
Taps for Bugle Boy Industries
Perry Ellis makes offer for trade name, licensing ...
Saks to Host Valentine's Day Chanel Show
Saks Fifth Avenue and The Colleages will preview the Spring/Summer 2001 collection by Chanel at their annual Valentine’s Day charity luncheon at the Regent Beverly W...
Celebrity Auctions at Sothebys.com
Rare apparel and accessories, shoes and handbags from the LaRose Exquisite Footwear Collection are being offered at an online auction this month at the Sotheby’s Web site...
Fall Preview and Cautious Shopping at Long Beach ASR
Fears of hard economic times to come, perceived less traffic and the reality of MAGIC International’s larger show next week all contributed to the unique varied mood at the Feb. 3...
Dungarees L.A.: Retail Reinvention
The retail strategy seemed sound when Howard Markman and a partner opened the Dungarees L.A. boutique in Santa Monica, Calif.: Provide a wide selection of designer denim to customers in the affluent section of the city near borderi...
AAFA Assisting in El Salvador Earthquake Relief
The American Apparel & Footwear Association is assisting organizations collecting clothes, blankets, footwear and other items to the victims of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that devasta...
Fabric Marketing Research Names New West Coast Rep
Fabric Marketing Research, a New York-based research firm that produces databases for the textile and apparel industry, has named Joel Kaye its new West Coast representative. Kaye, ...
Costume Designers Guild Names Awards Nominees
The Costume Designers Guild (CDG) has announced this year’s nominees for excellence in costume design for both films and television. Awards will be given at a March 17 gala, to be hel...
California: Feb. 9, 2001
Governor Gray Davis has signed an executive order calling on retailers to cut outdoor lighting at night by as much as 50 percent or face fines of $1,000 a day ... The California Energy Commission has appr...
Friday, February 2
Boutique Show, Style Industrie Combine as Femme
Femme, MAGIC International’s new women’s apparel and accessory marketplace in New York City, will launch May 6–8, 2001. Femme, which replaces the International Fashio...
Sirena Lands Pikul
Vernon, Calif.-based Sirena Apparel Group has hired swim veteran Lisa Pikul for the company’s licensed Liz Claiborne and Elizabeth by Liz Claiborne Swimwear collecti...
Dressing to Be Me
Designer Maggie Bermuda insists that the name of her new clothing line was not intended to be cute or clever. Pairing the first two letters of her married name with the first two letters of her maide...
Fed Cuts Interest Rates Again
The Federal Reserve Bank has cut the interest banks charge each other on overnight loans—a key interest rate—by another half percentage point, to 5.5 percent, as the central bank’s campaign against a pos...
Hong Kong Remains Confident Despite Flagging Economy
HONG KONG—The mood was generally positive among buyers and exhibitors at the Jan. 16–19 run of Hong Kong Fashion Week held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, despite signs of...
Consumers Spent $6.1 Billion Online in December
Nearly 20 million households shopped online in December, spending an average of $308 per person, for a total online outlay of $6.1 billion. Approximately $502 million of tha...
Reid Joins Point Conception
Swimwear designer Lisa Reid has joined the design team at Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.-based swimwear company Point Conception, makers of Point Conceptio...
California: Feb. 2, 2001
Sharon D. Garrett has been named to the board of directors of Newark, Calif.-based Ross Stores Inc.; she is a former senior vice president and the chief information officer of the Walt ...
Cyberspace: Feb. 2, 2001
Barbara Wambach has been named chief executive officer of eLuxury [
Cal Mart Postpones Designer of the Year
ULCA Heart Disease Benefit Still Set for April ...
NRF Names quot;Retail Championsquot;
The Washington, D.C.-based National Retail Federation (NRF) has released its annual list of retail industry-friendly legislators, dubbed “Retail Champions,” who supported indust...
Skate, Shoes and Junior Growth at Long Beach ASR
Attendees of the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo can expect to see larger skate and junior sections at the Feb. 3–5 run of the show at the Long Beach Convention Center, according to the sho...
International: Feb. 2, 2001
New York City-based Tiffany & Co. has announced plans to open a 4,600-square-foot store in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in May 2001; the new store will be operated by Tiffany-Bras...
National: Feb. 2, 2001
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (PRL) has ended its licensing agreement with Sara Lee Corp. for the manufacture and distribution of its women’s intimate apparel, while extending Sara Lee’s license to c...
Movers: Feb. 2, 2001
George L. Jones has been named chief executive officer of Saks Inc.’s department store group; he moves to the Birmingham, Ala.-based retail chain from Burbank, Calif.-based Warner...
San Gabriel Businesses Hold Energy Conference
Several businesses based in the San Gabriel Valley met with legislators and energy company executives on Jan. 26 to discuss the rising rates for electric and gas power....
Big Deal Sale for Excess Inventory
Several Southern Californ...
National Cotton Council CEO Tapped for The Seam
Phillip C. Burnett, currently chief executive officer of the National Cotton Council, has been named president and CEO of The Seam www.theseam.com...
State Assembly Passes Electrical Reform Bill
The California State Assembly passed a measure that would authorize the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to sell electrical power to retail, end-use customers and, in limited cases, to local publicly owned electri...
Kik Wear's New Shoes
Los Angeles-based manufacturer Kik Wear Industries has announced the launch of its first shoe line, Kik Wear Footwear, a line of lifestyle men’s shoes that will be designed in conj...
On the Road with Ritual Events
Ritual Events & Marketing took its twice-yearly local apparel and music expo nationwide this past fall. The Ritual Expo made stops in five cities—New York, Boston, Chica...
