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IN BRIEF

New spin on the department store

A new boutique department store called Lift will debut in the spring of 2006 at Victory, a 72-acre mixed-use development being built in downtown Dallas by Hillwood Capital. The two-level store, brainchild of local entrepreneur Ort Varona, will sell contemporary fashions, furniture and technology merchandise. It will also offer personal shopping services, a wholesale showroom, a personal care salon, and a restaurant and lounge. By doing away with traditional department store fare such as cosmetics and luggage, Lift can operate in a much smaller space than the typical department store — 20,000 square feet, versus 115,000 square feet.

Go fish, says Petco

Petco is sprucing up its stores with a new format called Pisces. Unveiled this year, the Pisces prototype adopts a racetrack layout and moves the retailer’s aquatics department to the center of the store. Saltwater and freshwater fish tanks dominate the store and provide that “wow” factor, says Dana Telsey, a Bear Stearns analyst who visited a Pisces store in Philadelphia. Through remodels and new store openings, the prototype now makes up about 10 percent of Petco’s store base. Pisces stores cost about $300,000 to build and span about 15,000 square feet.

Ralph Lauren’s new rollout

Ralph Lauren opened its first Rugby store, a 2,500-square-foot boutique on Newbury Street in Boston. Aimed at an upscale 18-to-24-year-old consumer, the shop sells its own apparel line, similar to Ralph Lauren’s traditional preppy style, but at lower price points. Rugby will expand to six units next year, followed by a rollout of about 40 stores in such college towns as Raleigh, N.C., and Charlottesville, Va., over the next five years.

Handbags in the heartland

Spanish accessories retailer Misako opened two new stores in the Chicago area, one at Orland Square and one at Westfield Shoppingtown Fox Valley. Misako, which operates 50 boutiques in several countries, already has four additional stores in Chicago, one in Minneapolis, one in Las Vegas and one in Des Moines, Iowa. The brand is known for inexpensive but fashionable handbags, belts and scarves.

Supermarkets slimming down

Grocers are building smaller stores and putting them up faster than ever, according to Facts About Store Development 2004, a report by the Food Marketing Institute. The median size of grocery stores built in 2003 was 34,000 square feet, compared to 47,000 square feet the year before. Per-store construction costs of new units averaged $108.30 per square foot last year, versus $124 per square foot in 2002, the report says.

Limited’s Bigelow brand debut

Limited Brands opened the prototype store for its new upscale cosmetics and beauty concept, C.O. Bigelow, at Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio. Based on a New York City shop that calls itself the oldest U.S. apothecary, the 8,000-square-foot store will sell upscale national brands as well as products from Limited Brands’ Bath & Body Works and Henri Bendel divisions. If the Easton store succeeds, Limited Brands says, it will consider rolling Bigelow out nationwide.

Lancôme tests U.S. specialty store

Cosmetics brand Lancôme, a division of L’Oréal USA, opened its first U.S. concept store at Taubman Centers’ Mall at Short Hills (N.J.). The 1,500-square-foot store is Lancôme’s fourth. The company opened others in Hong Kong and in Shanghai, China, last year. Lancôme will open a store in New York City sometime during the first half of next year and will outline plans for future U.S. units if sales at the Short Hills and Manhattan stores meet projections.

Many takers for Toys?

Toys ‘R’ Us hired Credit Suisse First Boston to recruit buyers for its core toy business. The retailer’s board is looking at refocusing on the Babies ‘R’ Us division. Potential buyers include a consortium led by former Toys ‘R’ Us Chairman and CEO Michael Goldstein, Reuters reported. Vornado Realty Trust, Apollo Management and Blackstone Group were also mentioned as possible bidders. Analysts say the retailer’s real estate holdings could raise the price as high as $3 billion.

Pathmark puts itself on the block

Pathmark, a 142-unit grocery chain based in Carteret, N.J., hired investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein to find potential suitors. Dutton Associates analyst Jonathan Ziegler values Pathmark at about $754 million. The chain’s per store sales volume and population density are among the highest in the industry, making it an attractive target for grocery retailers looking for real estate in the crowded Northeast, Ziegler says.

And Oscar goes to …

After 40 years in business, fashion design firm Oscar de la Renta opened its first retail store on Madison Avenue in New York City. The luxury brand will open a second store at the new Wynn resort in Las Vegas in April and is negotiating the lease for a store in Bal Harbour, Fla., as well.

 

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