Ella Moss

/PRNewswire/ -- National outdoor retail cooperative, REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.), announced today that retail and outdoor industry veteran Eric Artz will join the company as chief financial officer in May. Artz comes to REI from Urban Outfitters, Inc., a leading lifestyle specialty retail company operating under the Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain and BHLDN brands. Artz has been at Urban Outfitters since early 2010. Prior to joining the Philadelphia-based company, he had a 17-year career with VF Corporation and several of its affiliates, including VF Contemporary Brands, which consists of 7 For All Mankind, Splendid and Ella Moss;

Ella Moss, a division of Greensboro, N.C.-based branded apparel company VF Corp., opened its first-ever, bricks-and-mortar store at the Fashion Island shopping mall in Newport Beach, Calif., on Sept. 9, according to www.wwd.com. The 1,400-sq.-ft. store is the first of what is expected to be a dozen over the next five years, according to Jonathan Saven, president of Ella Moss and Splendid. "The brand has been around for 10 years, and it has been growing for 10 years," Saven said. "We felt like our entrance into retail as a business was a natural move." Standout store design elements include