Guess Inc.’s recently appointed president and COO, Carlos Alberini, announced the company plans to scale back costs and curtail its retail expansion plans; the Los Angeles-based jeans maker reported a fourth-quarter loss last year after assuring investors that its sales and earnings projections would be met...Quincy, Mass.-based J. Jill Group announced plans to open a new 5,629-square-foot retail store in downtown San Francisco; this is the fourth California retail store for the retailer, which targets its women’s apparel, accessories and footwear to “affluent women over 35,” according to company statements...The Los Angeles Planning Commission has approved the construction of an $80 million shopping center on nearly 12 acres of land near the intersection of Pico and San Vicente Boulevards; the project calls for a Home Depot, Costco, Metropolitan Transit Authority bus terminal, a McDonald’s, a self-storage facility and a parking structure; the shopping center is scheduled to open in early 2003...London-based Burberry will open a new retail location at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Camden Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif. in fall 2001; the story will carry the company’s women’s, men’s and accessories lines.