Finance & Capital Management

Ross Dress for Less is opening new stores under both its namesake and dd’s Discounts banners. The specialty apparel retailer will open a 25,000-sq.-ft. Ross Dress for Less store in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Oct. 10.

This store is the 11th new Ross Dress for Less location in Idaho. The opening is part of the retailer’s 2015 expansion program, totaling approximately 70 new locations during the year.

Chicago -- Mid-America Real Estate Corporation’s Investment Sales team brokered the sale of Roosevelt Galleria in Chicago. Rye, New York-based Acadia Realty Trust purchased the urban retail property for $19.6 million.

Roosevelt Galleria is located in the Roosevelt Road retail corridor in the South Loop. The 40,306 sq. ft. center has a diverse mix of tenants, which include: Golfsmith, Petco, Sleepy’s, United Healthcare and The Vitamin Shoppe.

Macy’s Inc. relatively new to the outlet sector but it’s making up for lost time.

On the heels of the debut of its Macy’s Backstage off-price format and the news that it would close up to 40 underperforming namesake stores, the retailer announced it will open two Bloomingdale’s Outlet stores in November, at The Shops at Liberty Place in Philadelphia, and at Westfield Mission Valley in San Diego.

Consumers looking for arts and crafts online may soon have a new destination. According to The Street, Amazon.com is readying the launch of Handmade at Amazon, an online marketplace of handcrafted goods that should serve as a major new competitor for Etsy Inc.

Reports of Amazon’s plans for Handmade at Amazon initially surfaced in May, but Amazon is now displaying product and seller pages, although there is no e-commerce functionality yet. An Amazon spokesperson only said “Stay tuned” when asked about a launch date for Handmade at Amazon.

Steinmart didn’t admit wrongdoing and the Securities and Exchange Commission didn’t bring any charges, but concluding a nearly five year old accounting investigation still cost the company $800,000.

An $800,000 fine may not sound like much to retailers with annual sales in the billions, but Steinmart is relatively small, generating sales of $311 million from 269 stores in the second quarter. An $800,000 fine represents 20% of the company’s net income for the period.

Austin, Texas -- GroundFloor Development and Prescott Group announced plans for Saint Elmo, a $120 million mixed-use project in Austin, Texas. Saint Elmo will include 225,000 sq. ft. of creative office space and feature a 40,000-sq.-ft. indoor-outdoor marketplace, seated alongside the new location for Austin’s Saxon Pub.

A planned secondary stock offering by Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings means the rapidly expanding outdoor retailer no longer meets the definition of a “controlled company” but the private equity firm that brought the company public last year will still own a huge stake.

Dallas -- Cypress Equities Cos. announced that it has hired Lance Taylor, director of asset management.

Taylor brings 25 years of experience in commercial real estate with varied responsibilities that include underwriting, acquisition, asset management, leasing, land development, receivership and dispositions. Lance’s background includes Archon Group, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, Jones Lang LaSalle America’s, Inc. and Stream Realty Partners, L.P.