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Labels: Development, Financing, Shopping Center REITs
Labels: Development, Economy
As Holiday Season Nears, Retailer Opens More Stores And Plans Aggressive Discount PricingLabels: Kohls
Food Lion is "right-sizing" its Bottom Dollar Food discount concept with a new prototype unit opening today in Mooresville, N.C., about 40 minutes from Charlotte. The new 20,000 square foot store incorporates significant research and experience into the banner's redesign, Paul LaCroix, vp of Bottom Dollar Food told Progressive Grocer on Tuesday. Labels: Food Lion
Greg Hamm, general manager of the Columbia project for General Growth, said the company hopes to submit documents to Howard County outlining its plans for the project.
“We have every intention of moving forward,” Hamm said. “It’s a wild world out there, but we’re very excited about the project.”
Bill Mackey, project manager for Howard County’s planning and zoning department, said General Growth has said it will provide the county with the plans next month. . . . more
Labels: Development
Labels: Financing
True Religion Apparel, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRLG) today announced the opening of a new branded retail store in the Center City district of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Located at 1604 Walnut Street, the 1,600 square-foot branded store will offer shoppers the entire True Religion collection for men, women and kids, including its signature jean styles, its expanding denim and sportswear collection, and a full range of licensed product, such as footwear, swimwear, headwear and handbags. Located in the heart of Philadelphia, Center City is the downtown and Central Business District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Encompassing a population of approximately 90,000, Center City is the third most populous downtown in the United States. Additionally, the area is largely recognized as one of Philadelphia’s premiere tourist and shopping destinations and attracts an estimated 5 million visitors annually. Walnut Street in particular, offers a mix of national and local luxury businesses, including Polo, Tiffany & Co., MAC Cosmetics, Diesel, Coach, Cole Haan and Burberry. . . . more
Labels: True Religion
Labels: Retail Trends
More bad news for Circuit City (NASDAQ: CC). After the resignation of its CEO followed by disappointing quarterly results and the company's decision to withdraw its guidance, the company has hired turnaround specialist FTI Consulting Inc. as an adviser on restructuring. Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst David Schick wrote that "The risks of bankruptcy are very real [...] Vendors will have to decide how they plan to do business at Circuit City.Labels: Circuit City
Labels: Economy
Kohl's Corp. has opened its 1,000th store this week in Burlington. And in Manitowoc, and at 44 other locations around the country. You can take your pick. Like a good parent, Kohl's is refusing to play favorites by designating any one of the 46 stores to open as the official 1,000th in the Menomonee Falls-based chain.Labels: Expansion, Kohls, Retail Trends
Twenty-two years after openingits first store in the Cherry Hill Mall, Saladworks will open its 100thlocation on October 1, just over seven miles away in Mount Laurel. Labels: Saladworks
Franchise companies, facing what many say is the toughest economic environment they've seen, are offering two-for-one deals, reduced fees and financing help to woo new buyers. They are also paying existing franchisees to help spread the word. The economy has made many would-be franchisees wary of taking big financial risks, while others simply can't get the necessary loans. Meanwhile, competition among franchisers is growing, giving investors a lot more choices. There are now about 3,000 different franchise concepts, according to the International Franchise Association.
In a survey released last week of some 150 franchise companies, respondents said their franchise sales were about 72% below their 2008 goals, with inquiries from prospective franchisees down about 48%, according to Franchise Update Media Group, San Jose, Calif.
But even as "closing deals is becoming more of a challenge," says Harold Kestenbaum, a franchise attorney in Uniondale, N.Y., franchise companies have to be careful not to alienate existing franchisees when they offer discounts and other incentives to new buyers. "How does it look for the guys who pay the higher price when they see the price is getting lowered?" he asks. Making the situation more sensitive, existing franchisees, especially in the retail and home-service sectors, are being hit by cutbacks in consumer spending. . . . more
Labels: Retail Trends
RICHMOND, VA-Circuit City Stores plans zero growth beyond existing commitments for fiscal 2010 and is examining store openings for the second half of this year (fiscal 2009) as it looks to improve the performance of its current business, the company said at its second quarter conference call. The company current plans between 45 and 55 domestic store openings in the current fiscal year, of which 24 have already opened.
“Our current store base doesn’t support the customer or associate experience we want to deliver," said James A. Marcum, vice chairman and acting president/CEO. "We expect to dramatically reduce our store openings, other than those fulfilling existing commitments, which are limited."
Labels: Circuit City
Labels: Retail Trends
NEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Athletic shoe and clothing chain Foot Locker Inc (FL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Monday it plans to buy Delias Inc's (DLIA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) CCS business for $102 million, as it seeks to boost its appeal with teenage skateboarders.Labels: Delia's, Footlocker
Labels: Economy
Key U.S. legislators released the compromise draft of the $700 billion bailout proposal early Sunday evening ahead of the opening of markets in Asia, and now have one final hurdle to clear: convincing the rank-and-file of their parties to support the legislation when it comes to a vote, likely on Monday.Labels: Economy
AutoZone Inc. is buying back $500 million of its common stock, the company announced Sept. 24.Labels: AutoZone
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Electronics retailer Circuit City Stores Inc. said Monday that its quarterly loss widened, hurt by charges to write down the value of its fixed assets and a significant decline in traffic that led to worse than expected sales.Labels: Circuit City
Labels: Burlington Coat Factory, Costco, TJX
The Toy Authority Reveals 36 New Toys Guaranteed to Top Christmas Wish Lists and Selects the "Fabulous 15" Representing the Best of the SeasonLabels: Retail Trends, Toys R Us
Drugstore operator Rite Aid shook up its management ranks Thursday after posting a higher second-quarter loss because of disappointing results at stores acquired from Brooks Eckerd and heavy promotional spending.Labels: Retail Sales, Retail Trends
Indianapolis-based sporting goods retailer The Finish Line Inc. said it swung to a second-quarter profit as growing sales helped the company post better-than-expected results.Labels: Finish Line
The instant gratification of video-on-demand and the novelty of movies by snail mail may get many a consumer more excited than an old-fashioned trip to the corner store, but for Blockbuster Inc., the store is still the thing.
Retail giant Centro Properties Group, New York developer Macklowe Properties, office-building investor Broadway Real Estate Partners LLC and others are now facing an even rougher ride in the wake of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s bankruptcy, the collapse of American International Group Inc. and the buyout of Merrill Lynch & Co. by Bank of America Corp.
After these and other market crises, cash-flow projections for properties are being scaled back in anticipation of a greater economic slowdown. The sales market -- long considered the last hope of many distressed players -- has virtually ground to a halt.
Even creditors that were willing to make real-estate loans before the upheaval are pulling back, having witnessed the spectacle of some of the biggest names in finance and banking vanishing in a period of days. . . . more
Labels: Acquisitions, Financing
The additions today bring to 926 the number of protected companies, exchange data show. General Growth is the second- largest owner of U.S. malls, and Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. provides financing to farmers, ranchers and rural homeowners. At least two companies, Diamond Hill Investment Group and "boutique'' investment bank JMP Group Inc., have opted off the list. . . . more
Labels: Malls
MONROVIA, Calif. — Trader Joe’s this week will open doors to new locations in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Richmond, Va.; and Williamsburg, Va., the company said. The stores, all of which are scheduled to open Friday, represent the first Trader Joe’s stores in their immediate markets, although the Brooklyn store follows other New York City locations in Queens and Manhattan. The Brooklyn store, at 14,000 square feet, is located in a landmark former bank building in the Cobble Hill neighborhood.Source: Supermarket News
Labels: Trader Joe's
Rite Aid Corp. today announced a corporate shake-up that will replace the drugstore company's chief financial and chief operating officers.Labels: Rite Aid
If royalty was based on frugality, Helen Braun would be Jackson's reigning queen. The 78-year-old "blond bomber," as friends call her, can sniff out a sale quicker than a bloodhound and separate treasure from trash at garage sales with uncanny ease.Labels: Retail Trends
With sales at their main locations sagging, Saks, Nordstrom, and others are tapping budget-conscious shoppers by expanding their outlet stores On a recent morning at the Woodbury Commons Outlet mall an hour north of New York City, Carissa Nava is looking over a red wraparound dress by Diane Von Furstenberg at the Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth store. The dress retails for $365 at Saks' main store on in New York, but here it is selling for $126.99.
Nava, a pharmaceutical sales rep who lives in Manhattan, makes regular trips to Saks' flagship store on Fifth Avenue—sometimes to buy, but often just to check out the selection of big-name apparel. Then, at the earliest chance, she drives up to the Saks outlet to pick those items up at a significant discount. "I only wear Seven or True Religion jeans, and I get them here for $149," she says. "Why would I pay $216 for the same exact ones at the main store?"
There's a certain snob appeal that attaches to luxury retailers like Neiman Marcus, Saks (SKS), or Nordstrom (JWN). Which is why, even though almost all of them have operated discount outlet stores for years, they never talked much about them. Saks went to the extent of keeping its name off the outlets, calling them "Off Fifth."
But today, with the economy stalled and consumer spending in free fall, snobbery is a bit harder to pull off. Even the most upscale shoppers are hunting for bargains. So luxury retail executives are taking their off-price operations out of the shadows and launching their most aggressive expansion plans in years. Increasingly, the outlets also are offering not just discontinued or leftover inventory from a previous season, but many items currently available at the mainline stores.
"Only stores that scream value are getting consumers in," says Erin Armendinger, managing director of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. . . . more
With the credit markets seized, the avalanche of bad news surrounding investment banking giants Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch and insurance provider AIG has caused a state of panic in the commercial real estate industry.
Merrill was exposed to about $18 billion between whole loans, conduits and direct real estate investments. Lehman, meanwhile, continues to hold $32.6 billion in commercial real estate between whole loans and CMBS bonds. About 11 percent of its portfolio is devoted to retail. AIG’s exposure is harder to pin down. The company built up a $60 billion position in the credit default swaps market—some of which is tied to CMBS. The company also has $16 billion in international real estate assets.
The question now is, with Lehman in bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch in the process of being acquired by Bank of America and AIG sold off in parts by the government, what’s going to happen to all those holdings?
In the case of Lehman and Merrill Lynch, their commercial real estate assets will likely end up on the auction block, according to David Akeman, director in the capital markets group of Stan Johnson Company, a Tulsa, Okla.-based commercial real estate investment firm. Before filing for bankruptcy last week, Lehman had planned to spin off its commercial real estate portfolio into a stand-alone, publicly-traded entity, Real Estate Investments Global, which would allow the bank to avoid a forced fire sale. But after its September 14 bankruptcy filing, Lehman will not likely be allowed to spin off one of its divisions, says Adam B. Weissburg, partner with Cox Castle Nicholson LLP, a Los Angeles-based real estate law firm. . . . more
Labels: Acquisitions, Financing
CHICAGO - Executives at outdoor supercenter Cabela's Inc. told investors Tuesday that they plan to open slightly smaller retail locations in the future.Labels: Cabela's
UNCASVILLE, CT-The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority is planning to delay a large capital spending component in the Project Horizon expansion of Mohegan Sun. A statement cites the ongoing economic recession affects on regional gaming markets as the cause of the interruption.Labels: Development, Entertainment
Labels: Development, shaw's
RICHMOND, Va. — A change at the top may not be enough to jump-start Circuit City Stores Inc., after the head of the nation's No. 2 consumer electronics retailer abruptly resigned amid plummeting stock prices and calls for his ouster.Labels: Circuit City
ATLANTA — Lowe's Cos. Inc. backed its 2008 full-year profit forecast Wednesday, but said it would open fewer stores next year as the soft U.S. economy and housing slump hampers demand.The second-largest home improvement retailer behind Home Depot said it would open 75 to 85 new stores in 2009, down from about 120 it expects this year.
“While a pullback in the pace of our expansion is appropriate given the pressures in many markets, we continue to see opportunity for new store growth in the years ahead,” Gregory Bridgeford, Lowe's executive vice president for business development, said in a statement.
For 2009, Lowe's forecast profit of $1.40 to $1.65 a share.
Analysts currently expect profit of $1.53 a share for 2008 and $1.57 a share for 2009, according to Reuters Estimates.. . . more
Labels: Lowes