J. Crew Agrees to $3 Billion Sale … and More Industry News

BUSINESS BRIEFS

J. Crew Group Inc. (New York) has agreed to be bought by private equity firms for about $3 billion. The deal includes a “go shop” provision that allows the company to solicit higher offers through Jan. 15.

Winston Retail Solutions (New York), a creative and service company, has launched a new technology division called HUBBUB. The software will be offered as a SaaS (software as a service) or an integrated platform to run with corporate systems of retail organization training and management.

Lightfair International has announced the East Coast debut of its Building Integration Pavilion, featuring companies displaying solutions and products used to maximize and create energy-efficient buildings. The pavilion launched last year in Las Vegas.

Retail branding and design firm Chute Gerdeman Retail (Columbus, Ohio) was honored by the Columbus Society for Communicating Arts (CSCA) for its design of The Flagship Store Powered by Reebok at the New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey.

A Freson Market, Ltd. store designed by strategic branding, retail design and consultancy agency CBX (New York) has won an award from the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG). The store, located in Alberta, won the 2010 Gold Medal Award in the Small Surface Category (stores under 15,000 square feet) in CFIG’s Independent Grocer of the Year Competition.

STORE OPENINGS

KVB Design (Oxfordshire, U.K.) announced the opening of a Harman (Union, N.J.) flagship in Shanghai’s Si Nan district.

National retail construction firm Englewood Construction (Lemont, Ill.) has completed three new projects in the Midwest, a 9000-square-foot American Girl boutique in Kansas and exterior renovations of two Sears stores in Illinois.

Skechers (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) has opened a new location in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.