NORTHEAST IN BRIEF

Vornado makes New York, New Jersey plays

New York City-based Vornado Realty Trust says it will spend $102 million turning the 1 million-square-foot Bergen Mall, in Paramus, N.J., into an open-air project. Bergen Town Center, as the conversion will be called, will comprise nine buildings and a five-level, 1,570-vehicle parking garage, according to The Record. Separately, Vornado has joined The Related Cos., also of New York City, to convert Manhattan’s Farley Post Office into the 1.1 million-square-foot Moynihan Train Station. Vornado says that project will contain shops, restaurants and a 850,000-square-foot boutique hotel. Merchandise Mart, a division of Vornado that organizes trade shows and manages wholesale showrooms and office buildings, will also have space at the transit hub.

Ben Sherman moves onto NYC’s Spring Street

British casual-clothing retailer Ben Sherman plans to open a 4,650-square-foot store in New York City’s SoHo district in the spring. Sherman says it will roll out 24 more of them in the U.S. over the next three or four years. With its signature button-down collared shirts, the company has grown into one of Britain’s largest casual-clothing brands. The company sells its lines through department stores and also operates a store in London and another in Manchester.

Report: East Orange, N.J., a retail powerhouse

The city of East Orange, N.J., 13 miles west of New York City, could support about 20 national retailers, says a report by the Fort Worth, Texas-based Buxton Co., a consumer research firm. American Eagle Outfitters, B. Dalton Books, Bath & Body Works, The Limited, Victoria’s Secret and Zales are some of the retailers that would do well in East Orange, according to the report. Among restaurant chains, Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Ruth Chris Steak House show promise too. The city commissioned the Buxton report as part of its plans to redevelop a portion of its main thoroughfare. The plans call for a $120 million performing arts school campus. Under development is an $18 million residential, retail and arts center called Brick Church Commons, according to The Star-Ledger. The city’s largest consumer category is the so-called Bohemian mix — young professionals fond of nightclubs, coffeehouses and cinemas. Erika von Hacht, a Buxton spokeswoman, says the East Orange City Council is eager to expand its retail sector, which could ease the permitting process.

Supermarket chain Wegmans finds it cannot go home

Wegmans Food Markets says it will close its 14 Chase-Pitkin Home & Garden Centers stores because the chain, which posted $200 million in sales last year, is unable to compete with Home Depot and Lowe’s. The stores are all in New York state. One store in Clay and another in Elmira are slated to close in March. The company has not announced a timetable for the others. The closures will let Wegmans expand its food business, according to Robert Wegman, the company’s chairman. Wegmans operates 69 stores in Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and posts upwards of $3 billion in sales annually.

Ruehl experiments with new accessories concept

Nearly 14 months after Abercrombie & Fitch launched Ruehl to serve 22-to-30-year-olds, the company quietly spun off an accessories-only version of the chain in lower Manhattan that goes by the same name. The experimental store, measuring 600 square feet, opened last month and sells handbags made from such materials as shearling, buffalo leather and rabbit fur. Prices range from $328 to $1,395, according to Women’s Wear Daily.

Lockes Diamantaires to open second NYC store

Antwerp, Belgium-based Lockes Diamantaires said at press time that it planned to have a 1,000-square-foot flagship store operating this holiday season on New York City’s Bejeweled Mile, a stretch of Madison Avenue so named because of all the jewelry retailers there. The new unit’s design resembles the inside of a jewelry box, the company said in a press release. Lockes, which sells diamond jewelry and loose stones, plans to open five more U.S. stores in urban markets over the next three years. It is eyeing the Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Houston and Palm Beach, Fla., markets. Lockes already operates a New York City store at the Shops at Columbus Circle, on Manhattan’s West Side.

Fendi takes Manhattan flagship down a notch

Fendi says it hopes downsizing its New York City flagship by a third will boost the store’s yearly sales per square foot to $6,000. The LVMH-owned Italian luxury brand, which operates 117 stores worldwide, closed its 20,000-square-foot Fifth Avenue store last year and opened a 7,000-square-foot boutique a few blocks away last month. The move should save a bundle in rent, given that retail rents on the famed thoroughfare averaged $950 per square foot yearly last year, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report. Meanwhile, Abercrombie & Fitch opened a new shop in a space formerly occupied by Fendi.