Bloomingdale's

Department store giant Bloomingdale's announced it will open three outlet stores this fall. The stores will be located at the Miromar Outlets in Estero, Fla.; Wrentham Village Premium Outlets in Wrentham, Mass.; and Woodfield Village Green in Schaumburg, Ill.

The cross-channel retail industry is at a crossroads. For starters, due to the economic downturn, the past couple of years have been difficult for the retail sector. But that's changing. Retailers are starting to see signs of life and are breathing a sigh of relief. At press time, for example, it was announced that February retail sales increased 0.6 percent over January and 4.2 percent year-over-year, according to the National Retail Federation.

Macy's reported an impressive 30.9 percent gain in sales at its Macy's and Bloomingdales' websites last month. That growth contributed to the department store's ability to outpace analysts' estimates for February, with a 5.8 percent gain in the company's same-store sales.

White House | Black Market, a division of Chico's FAS, has announced that Liz Edmiston, has been named senior vice president, general merchandise manager for White House | Black Market.

With the holidays right around the corner, it is no surprise that Bloomingdale’s is promoting its beefed up mobile presence via traditional marketing channels. The department store giant is advertising its mobile commerce site in its fall print catalog.

Macy’s has launched an m-commerce website for its Macy’s brand department store chain and plans to roll out a similar Bloomingdale’s mobile shop next week.

As Americans' love affair with shopping cools, retailers are venturing overseas in search of growth. Bloomingdale's and Crate & Barrel each opened their first store outside the U.S. in Dubai this year. Abercrombie & Fitch just opened its first store in London. Sears has begun shipping tools and clothing to 90 countries. Macy's is looking at going into China. And Target, the discount chain that for a decade has resisted Wall Street pressure to expand internationally, revealed this spring that it wants to open stores outside the U.S. and is looking at Canada, Mexico and Latin America.

To lure value-conscious shoppers away from competitors' outlet stores, upscale department store Bloomingdale's plans to launch four outlet stores this summer and fall.

An interview with Margaret Moraskie, vice president of e-commerce at the the women's apparel and accessories catalog/multichannel retailer Boston Proper.