PRINT THIS STORY:

CHANGE TEXT SIZE:

IN BRIEF

New kiosks sought

The specialty leasing business needs a shot in the arm, said speakers at this year’s ICSC Specialty Leasing Conference in Charlotte, N.C. November sales were weak, and December sales were hardly an improvement. “Christmas has got to get better,” said Rick Vanzura, president of Waldenbooks, a division of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Borders Group. “We have to find a way to move sales into November.” Developers must secure entertaining new concepts, meeting participants said, pointing to some nontraditional uses for kiosks. For one thing, kiosks can be used to showcase businesses, they said. The wine-tasting kiosk in Simon Property Group’s SouthPark Mall, which gives patrons the chance to sample products from a local winery, is an example. And Developers Diversified Realty is negotiating with museums interested in setting up mall kiosks. Similar arrangements could be made with a range of other businesses, from car washes to health clubs, they said. To boost cart sales, landlords have experimented with gift cards exclusively for kiosks and with rent reductions during slow periods. High rents remain an impediment to new concepts, some said. “We’ve priced ourselves out of the market,” said Elaine Berger, vice president of specialty leasing at Philadelphia-based PREIT Services. Given the high rents landlords are receiving from well-established temporary tenants, they could give new concepts a break on the rent, she suggested. “We’re here to put people in business, not out of business.”

Waterside Shops getting more luxury

Taubman Centers and the Orlando, Fla.-based Forbes Co. are renovating the 285,000-square-foot Waterside Shops at Pelican Bay, in Naples, Fla., and adding posh retailers to the lineup, including Burberry, Gucci and Tiffany & Co. When the overhaul, which will cost at least $25 million, is completed in Nozvember, palm trees will tower over Waterside Shops’ entrances, and a 550-foot-long curved stone wall incorporated in a running-water sculpture.

DDR rings in 40

Executives of Developers Diversified Realty Corp. rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary in February. The firm, founded in 1965 as Developers Diversified Group by Bert Wolstein, began trading on the exchange in February 1993.

Wisconsin Ave. goes Madison Ave.

Luxury and high-end retailers are lining up to open stores on Wisconsin Avenue in Chevy Chase, Md., where The Chevy Chase Land Co. is building The Collection at Chevy Chase. Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton and MaxMara are among those that are opening flagships there. The Collection, incorporating two blocks of street-level retail, will make Wisconsin Avenue Chevy Chase’s equivalent to Madison Avenue in New York City and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif., its developer says. There will be a Saks Fifth Avenue at one end and a Neiman Marcus at the other, with most of the stores in between occupying more than one story. The project’s centerpiece is a 9,000-square-foot sculpture garden. The Collection is part of Chevy Chase Center, a mixed-use development that is under construction and will contain high-end restaurants and office space. The entire project will probably be completed next year and the Collection in mid-October. The Mills Corp. says it plans to move its headquarters into Chevy Chase Center next year. The firm will occupy 200,000 square feet there.

Huntington Mall to go open-air

J.H. Snyder Co. is transforming Huntington Mall, one of California’s oldest enclosed malls, into an open-air retail-entertainment complex. The 1 million-square-foot project, which will be renamed Bella Terra, will offer 71 shops and restaurants and a 20-screen, 4,000-seat Century Theatres cinema complex. Circuit City, Cost Plus World Market and Kohl’s have already opened stores at the center, which is 85 percent pre-leased. Bella Terra will also include an amphitheater surrounded by 15 restaurants, including California Pizza Kitchen and Pomodoro Cucina Italiana.

UPS opens up to new formats

The UPS Store says it will open 525 additional units this year, many of them in areas the company has not tapped before, such as under-served urban neighborhoods, and “free enterprise zones” (business districts that get tax and other government incentives), college campuses, convention centers and military bases. The company began staking out new territory last year, when it opened units in the Washington Heights section of New York City, on the Arizona State University campus and in the Flamingo Hotel and Convention Center, in Las Vegas.

Foley’s, Target come to Stapleton

A 140,000-square-foot Foley’s and a 180,000-square-foot SuperTarget will open at Northfield at Stapleton, an open-air, 1.2 million-square-foot lifestyle, retail and entertainment center in Forest City Enterprises’ master-planned Stapleton community outside Denver. The first phase, which includes the SuperTarget and a Bass Pro Shops store, will open later this year. The Foley’s store and an 18-screen Harkins cinema will open next year as part of the second phase.

Mayfaire gets cineplex

Consolidated Theatres opened a 57,380-square-foot, 16-screen cinema at 700,000-square-foot Mayfaire Town Center in Wilmington, N.C. Catherines, Romano’s Macaroni Grill and Trade Secret also opened there. The open-air center is part of a 400-acre mixed-use project called Mayfaire that is a development of locally based Mayfaire1 LLC.

Canyon Crossing signs more

Alamo, Calif.-based Transcan Development signed several tenants to its Canyon Crossing in Riverside, Calif. A 50,000-square-foot John’s Incredible Pizza, a 45,000-square-foot LA Fitness and a 45,000-square-foot Wickes Furniture will open at the 180-acre mixed-use project when the first phase is completed early next year. The retailers will join previously announced anchor Wal-Mart Supercenter in the project’s 740,000-square-foot retail component.

The Summit grows

Private shopping center developer Bayer Properties is leasing the final portion of The Summit, a 770,000-square-foot lifestyle center in Birmingham, Ala. Anthropologie, Coldwater Creek and about a dozen other specialty retailers are signing on as part of the fourth phase. Barnes & Noble, Parisian, Saks Fifth Avenue and a 16-screen cinema anchor the center, which opened in 1997.

Allied expands Pa. project

Allied Properties is adding a 91,000-square-foot lifestyle center to Berkshire Mall, in Wyomissing, Pa. Allied will also build an additional 40,000 square feet of big-box retail space onto Berkshire West, the power center portion of the retailing district, to join existing tenants A.C. Moore, Circuit City and T.J. Maxx.

Restaurants take flight at BWI

California Tortilla, Obrycki’s, Quiznos Subs and Villa Pizza all signed leases in the Airmall at Baltimore’s BWI Airport. Obrycki’s, a prominent seafood eatery in Baltimore, is branching out for the first time in more than 60 years with a 2,500-square-foot restaurant and bar slated to open in July. Walkers Shortbread, of Scotland, a century-old cookie maker, recently opened a retail unit at the airport.

K&G to NYC

Atlanta-based K&G Fashion Superstore signed the lease for its first Manhattan store. Founded primarily as a men’s suit retailer, K&G Fashion now sells men’s and women’s career and casual apparel, plus shoes and accessories. It operates 76 stores in the U.S., which typically occupy 20,000 square feet of space.

Sembler adds to Legacy Place

The Sembler Co., St. Petersburg, Fla., is bringing a 4,000-square-foot Vitamin Shoppe and a 7,200-square-foot Chili’s Grill & Bar to its Legacy Place, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Chino Hills snags Robinsons-May

Opus West Corp. snagged Robinsons-May as an anchor for its 550,000-square-foot Shoppes at Chino Hills (Calif.) lifestyle center. The department store agreed to open a 140,000-square-foot, two-level store at the center, which is slated to open in early 2007. The center will encompass 1 million square feet of retail gross leasable area. The Chino Hills City Hall, a sheriff’s station and the fire department headquarters will also be part of the development.

N.J. outlet center wins round

Chelsea Property Group is a step closer to opening the planned $100 million Jersey Shore Premium Outlets, in Tinton Falls, N.J. The town’s planning board gave conditional approval for the 430,000-square-foot project. Chelsea declined to comment, except to say that the situation is still “fluid.”

Zumiez to go public

Zumiez filed for an initial public offering valued at up to $57.5 million. The Everett, Wash.-based action sports retailer, which was founded in 1978, operates 140 stores, mostly in malls. The company says it will use the proceeds to fund new stores and growth, and toward general corporate costs. Zumiez, which targets 12-to-24-year-olds who buy skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding and BMX clothing and gear, says it ultimately wants to run several hundred stores. The shares will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ZUMZ.

Muss plans NYC project

A planned $600 million, mixed-use project going up in the New York City borough of Queens will cater to one of the most retail-underserved areas in the country, according to its developer. “There are 2.4 million people in Queens and only one regional mall,” said James Jarosik, senior vice president of Forest Hills, N.Y.-based Muss Development. The so-far unnamed complex is going up on a brownfield in Flushing and will contain 725,000 square feet of retail space on three levels, with 1,000 apartments spread across six buildings above that. Some open rooftop spaces will be set apart for recreational and possibly for other uses. The retail segment is slated to open in the fall of 2007 and the first phase of apartments in the spring of 2008.

Latina Foods launches grocery

Latina Foods, of Tonawanda, N.Y., which operates four Italian specialty food stores in upstate New York, signed a lease for a 42,000-square-foot store at the Stuyvesant Plaza, in Buffalo, N.Y. The store, under the Latina Foodland Fresh Market name, will contain a bakery, a deli and a full-service Italian specialty meat department staffed by a butcher. Latina Foodland is the company’s first full-fledged supermarket operation, says Edward T. Gould, vice president of operations at Latina. The company will operate a meat-processing facility, which will supply its supermarket and specialty shops, as well as restaurants, country clubs and other eateries. Latina plans to open the store in the spring.

© 2010 ICSC. All rights reserved. | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Contact ICSC | ICSC Home |