National: Aug. 17, 2001
J.C. Penney is under fire after the Plano, Texas-based retailer released a television commercial promoting its low-rise jeans for back-to-school; in the TV spot, a mother walks in on a daughter trying on the jeans and asks “You’re not going to school like that, are you?”; the mother then adjusts the jeans so they sit lower on the teen’s hips; the ad followed a consumer outcry over a line of T-shirts carried by J.C. Penney that depicted a mobile home and the phrase “Home Skooled”; the retailer has ceased to run the TV ad or carry the T-shirts...A former Wal-Mart employee has sued the discount retailer, charging that Wal-Mart would not pay overtime and that managers asked employees to work off the time clock and finish assigned tasks during breaks; the suit is seeking class-action status...Chicago-based men’s suit maker Hartmarx Corp. has received a $135 million takeover offer from an investor group; the offer represents nearly double the public company’s current share price; the investor group is led by Spencer Hays, founder and chairman of Tennessee retailer Tom James Co.; Hartmarx also announced the completion of its acquisition of the New York-based men’s sportswear company Consolidated Apparel Group...Federated Department Stores has begun shipping its private-label lines I.N.C. International Concepts, Jennifer Moore, Charter Club, Style & Co., Alfani menswear and Greendog childrenswear to department stores in Chile, Australia and Peru; the retailer already ships its private-label lines to Japanese department stores and plans to open a free-standing I.N.C. location in Tokyo...Designer Isaac Mizrahi will create the costumes for the revival of the Clare Boothe Luce play “The Women,” which will open on Broadway this fall...Gianni Versace’s Miami Beach mansion will become a luxury hotel after a unanimous decision by the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board; the luxury hotel, which is set to open by the end of the year, will feature 15 suites and a restaurant and will have a nightly room rate between $2,000 and $4,000; Versace was killed in front of the building in 1997.
