After a little more than a year after opening its first store, Portland, Ore.–based outdoor-apparel maker Nau is closing. The company, founded by former Nike, Patagonia and Adidas executives, set out in 2005 to create a new concept for retailing and manufacturing. Although the company had raised $35 more»

Peter Alexander built a fleet of self-named stores offering his fashion sleepwear and a cheeky sense of humor in his native Australia. He recently expanded to California, his first step toward opening a group of stores in key cities in North America. The sleepwear magnate debuted his first California more»

Vernon, Calif.–based denim lifestyle brand True Religion opened a 1,425-square-foot boutique at the new lifestyle mall The Americana at Brand, located in Glendale, Calif. The new True Religion store joins a retail lineup that will include Tiffany &Co., Juicy Couture, Lacoste, Kate Spade and Barneys New more»

With its real estate covered by freeways, regional malls and tract housing, the north end of Santa Ana, Calif., looks like classic California suburbia to Christina Harrison. At first glance, she thought a high-end fashion store might seem out of place here. But Harrison and business partner Nicole more»

Department-store chain Gottschalks Inc. reported a 3.9 percent drop in same-store sales in April. The decline was the latest bad news in more than 31 consecutive months of negative same-store sales. However, executives for the Fresno, Calif.–based retailer believe its Value Improvement Program more»

Reality-show stars Heidi Montag and Lauren Conrad have lent their names to fashion lines. On May 7, gossip blogger Perez Hilton, 30, announced he will develop a fashion line for retailer Hot Topic, based in City of Industry, Calif. The line, called Perez Hilton for Hot Topic, will be sold at Hot Topic more»

Retail stores and store concepts that command attention, reach untapped markets and redefine business The year is not even half over, and already it’s been a tough one for many retailers. Even in an environment dominated by bad economic news and sagging consumer confidence, some retailers ran more»

High-profile specialty retailer Kitson will open its first store outside of Los Angeles’ stylish Robertson Boulevard in late 2008 when it debuts at The Americana at Brand retail center, the new $400 million project in Glendale, Calif. Kitson’s Glendale location will be called Kitson at The more»

Tobi (www.tobi.com) is all about the shopping experience. Co-founders and partners Catherine Chow and Corina Nurimba felt a lack of personal experience when it came to online retail. “We wanted to focus on one-to-one service like going into a boutique and talking to a sales associate,” Chow more»