News Briefs

Bambi Baby will open a flagship in the heart of Manhattan's historic Ladies’ Mile District.

The specialty retailer, which sells baby furniture, nursery sets, strollers, car seats, cribs, bedding and other related products, has inked a retail lease for its first New York City store, at 655 Sixth Ave. The transaction was arranged by CBRE. 

Bambi Baby will occupy 900 sq. ft. of prime, ground-floor space and 8,500 sq. ft. in the lower level of the property. The CBRE team of Jordan Kaplan, Jessica Tauber and Eric Gelber represented Bambi Baby in the negotiations. The property owner, United American Land, was represented in-house by Jack Laboz, and Aric Trakhtenberg, and Ravi Idnani of Newmark.

“Bambi Baby wanted to open its first flagship location in New York City, and the historic Ladies Mile District in the heart of Chelsea made perfect sense,” said Kaplan. “We are thrilled we were able to secure this amazing space for our client.  It is incredibly located, easily accessible and will be an incredible gain for families in the greater New York City market.”

 In additon to an e-commerce platform, Bambi Baby operates five brick-and-mortar stores, with three locations in New Jersey — in Paramus, Middletown and Union — along with a store in Miami, Fla., and Melville, N.Y. 

Five Below is expanding its footprint into a new region.

The tween and teen extreme-value retailer will enter the Pacific Northwest, opening eight stores across Washington and Oregon in November. The locations, which span malls to neighborhood shopping centers, are listed at end of article.

Five Below’s debut in the region comes as it is on track to open a total of 150 stores in 2025. In August, the retailer reported top- and bottom-line second-quarter results that topped expectations. Sales jumped 23.7% to $1.03 billion, while same-store sales rose 12.4%. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company has more than 1,850 stores in 44 states. 

Five Below’s new store locations in the Pacific Northwest region include:

• Sunrise Village, Puyallup, Wash.;

• Celebration Center, Federal Way, Wash.;

• Everett Mall, Everett, Wash.;

• Evergreen Crossing, Spokane Valley, Wash.;

• Valley Mall, Union Gap, Wash.;

• Vintner Square, Richland, Wash.;

• Alderwood Parkway, Lynnwood, Wash.

• Cascade Plaza, Beaverton, Ore.

Recent closures and bankruptcies, and uneven consumer trends have had little impact on overall U.S. retail fundamentals.

That’s according to Colliers’ latest Q3 2025 U.S. Retail Market Statistics report, which found that vacancy rates remain historically low, with strong absorption and constrained new supply supporting rent growth across much of the United States. 

The national vacancy rate remained steady at 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the report. Mall vacancies fell 30 basis points, while shopping center vacancies held steady, signaling continued resilience in both formats despite shifting retail footprints.

In other findings, average asking rents increased to $25.53 per sq. ft. — a 0.27% quarterly increase — in the third quarter, with occupancy costs remaining in line with sales performance.

Other findings from Collier’s Q3 report are below.

• Rent growth remains strongest in Southern and Western metros, with robust income and population gains driving demands. Highest rent markets include Honolulu ($54.01 per sq. ft.), Miami ($49.69), New York City ($46.16), San Francisco ($42.82) and San Jose, Calif. ($42.27).
• Retail construction totaled 50.8 million sq. ft., with just 7.7 million square feet delivered, mainly consisting of small pads and build-to-suits.
• The top five metros by square feet under construction were Dallas Fort Worth (7.0 MSF), Austin (3.6MSF), Houston (2.5MSF), Phoenix (2.4MSF) and Miami (1.7MSF).
• Net absorption reached 4.6 million square feet, even with leasing volume down 8.6%. Both malls and shopping centers posted over 1 million square feet of new occupancy, keeping availability near record lows entering the holiday season.

Other new research from Yext reveals that artificial intelligence tools are being misled by brand-controlled sources. Nearly nine-in-10 (86%) citations from AI-generated search answers across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity come from sources brands already control, such as websites and listings, according to the data.

[READ MORE: First-party websites, product listings dominate AI search citations]

Vallarta Supermarkets has started its next chapter.

The family-owned Latino grocer will open its first store in Arizona, in Glendale, in January. It will be Vallarta’s first-ever location outside of its home state of California. The company said it plans to continue expanding its footprint while staying true to its roots: “serving communities with authentic, high-quality food and creating a gathering place for families to connect over culture and tradition”.

The 49,000-sq.-ft. Glendale store is designed to be an immersive experience, alive with the colors, aromas and sounds of Latin American culinary tradition. Along with grocery essientials, it will house all of Vallarta’s signature offerings, from an in-house tortillería to a department (“La Concina”) where shoppers will find hot, ready-to-eat meals inspired by Mexico and Central America, a juice bar and more. A floral department will offer potted plants and flower arrangments.

 "This is more than just a store opening, it's the next chapter in Vallarta's story," said Lizette Gomez, Vallarta's director of marketing. "We've built our reputation on authenticity, quality, and community, and we're proud to bring that to Arizona for the very first time."

Headquartered in Santa Clarita, Calif., Vallarta operates 63 stores throughout the Golden State.

In today’s retail and restaurant markets, waiting to adopt AI and 5G is like leaving carts at the register: costly and avoidable.

On Thursday, Oct. 23, at 2 p.m. ET, a Chain Store Age webinar sponsored by Ericsson and Juniper Networks will examine how next-generation networking and intelligent automation are already transforming leading retail and restaurant brands, driving speed, personalization, and resilience at scale.

Join Dee Dee Pare, senior product marketing manager of Ericsson, Jai Thattil, senior director – industry & sustainability marketing of Juniper Networks, and Dan Berthiaume, senior technology editor of Chain Store Age, for the webinar.

Takeaways from the discussion will include:

• Why 5G matters now and how to unlock ultra-fast, reliable connectivity to enable seamless in-store experiences.
• Putting AI into action by automating operations and tailor engagement with real-world use cases that are delivering results today.
• Avoiding common pitfalls by learning the top challenges retailers face when adopting AI and how 5G helps solve them
• Seeing how retailers boosted performance with the integrated Juniper-Ericsson solution.

Click here to register for the webinar and join Dee Dee, Jai, and Dan Thursday, Oct. 23,  at 2:00 p.m. EST. Live viewers will have the opportunity to pose specific questions for the expert Ericsson and Juniper Networks speakers to answer.