Retail Briefs

The owner of the Rivercenter mall in San Antonio has reached an agreement to acquire the Joske's building, a 500,000-square-foot landmark property, from Dillard's. No price was given by New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. (AAC). The department store will remain open through mid-August of this year, said AAC, noting that Dillard's director of investor relations Julie Bull "has indicated that Dillard's is currently working to relocate Rivercenter associates to the company's four remaining San Antonio locations."

Macy's plans to open a store in Sarasota, Fla., at the new University Town Center development. Groundbreaking for the 150,000-square-foot store will take place in fall 2009, with the store expected to open one year later. "Sarasota is a very important market for us, and we are pleased to be expanding our stores," said Julie Greiner, chairman and ceo of Macy's Florida. The Miami-based division currently operates 62 stores in Florida and Puerto Rico. The company overall operates more than 850 department stores.

Internet conglomerate and direct-to-consumer retailer IAC has named Jason Rapp ceo of the Gifts.com division. Rapp, previously with the New York Times Co., joined IAC in 2006 and served as svp of mergers and acquisitions. William Lynch, who founded Gifts.com for IAC and became its president and ceo in 2004, added management of HSN.com to his duties in 2006. Lynch now has transitioned into a full time role at HSN serving as evp, marketing, content and HSN.com.