Retail Rules

REVIEW SUMMARY
Business. Bealls Inc., Bradenton
Industry. Retail
Key. Firm hired 32-year industry executive Lorna Nagler as president of the department store division in early 2011.

The prognosis was bleak at Christopher & Banks when Lorna Nagler took on the CEO role in August 2007.

Same-store sales at the chain of 800 women's apparel stores had been falling, while its inventory was rising — a messy combination on the verge of a recession. Income at the suburban Minneapolis-based publicly traded firm was down 20%. Shares of the company for the year were off by nearly 40%.