Retail roundup: Beauty sales increase, Citadel Outlets extends hours for summer, Disney to open baby stores, Father’s Day sales

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-- U.S. beauty sales at department stores rose 5% in the first quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, while sales of beauty products sold at mass merchandisers, drugstores and grocery stores rose 4%.

The report by NPD Group and Symphony IRI Group said it was the fourth consecutive quarter of growth for both sales channels.

By category, makeup sales increased 5%, skincare sales rose 6% and fragrance sales were up 6% at department stores. At grocery/drugstore/mass merchandisers, makeup sales were up 6% and skincare sales rose 3%. Fragrance sales were flat.

-- Citadel Outlets near the City of Commerce is extending its shopping hours for the summer. Starting this week, the shopping center will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day; previous hours were 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Citadel is also offering a round-trip daily shuttle service, called L.A.’s Outlet Express, from Disneyland and hotels around the Anaheim/Disney area.

-- Disney announced that it will open its first Disney Baby store next year at the Americana at Brand in Glendale. Another store will open on the East Coast.

The stores will display the company’s new infant line and will give Disney executives the chance to interact with the parents of newborns. Products will include apparel, nursery and bath items.

-- Consumers say they’re going to spend more on Dad for Father’s Day this year. An estimated $11.1 billion will be spent on the holiday, with the average American spending $106.49, up from $94.32 last year, according to a National Retail Federation survey. That’s the most in the survey’s eight-year history. Father’s Day is June 19 this year.

-- Andrea Chang