Finance & Capital Management

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Revel Touch, a technology provider in the mobile commerce space, has named Joe Davis as CEO. 

Davis previously served as president and CEO of Coremetrics (acquired by IBM) and held executive roles at Nortel, PeopleSoft and IBM. As CEO of Revel Touch, he will be responsible for driving the company’s accelerating growth.

TORONTO — Most retailers in Canada are ready for a phase-out of one-cent coins, a national retailing trade group said Wednesday.

The Retail Council of Canada said the majority of the country's retail businesses were prepared for the disappearance of the penny and will follow the government's proposals for determining prices.

Consumer confidence in January fell to its lowest point since November 2011, according to the Conference Board.

The Conference Board’s index decreased to 58.6, down from a revised 66.7 in December. The figure was lower than forecast; Bloomberg predicted a median of 64.

The drop in confidence coincides with the 2% payroll tax increase used to fund Social Security.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Tractor Supply Company reported that net sales for the fourth quarter increased to $1.29 billion, or 3.7% over the prior year's 14-week period.

Same-store sales increased 4.7% compared with a strong 7.6% increase in the prior-year period.The same-store sales increase was driven primarily by continued strong results in key consumable, usable and edible (C.U.E.) products, principally animal- and pet-related merchandise.

Toronto -- Most retailers in Canada are ready for a phase-out of one-cent coins, a national retailing trade group said Wednesday.

The Retail Council of Canada said the majority of the country's retail businesses were prepared for the disappearance of the penny and will follow the government's proposals for determining prices.

Sunrise, Fla. -- Ikea on Wednesday officially plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its store in City of Sunrise, Fla. It is the largest solar installation in South Florida and, when combined with Ikea projects already completed atop stores in Orlando and Tampa, will make Ikea the state’s largest non-utility solar owner. 

Miami -- Swire Properties and Bal Harbour Shops announced Wednesday they have agreed to an equity partnership to jointly develop the retail component of Brickell City Centre, currently under construction in the Brickell financial district of downtown Miami.

The 2.9 million-sq.-ft. Brickell City Centre will include 500,000 sq. ft. of high-end retail along with condominiums and hotel slated for completion in latter 2015.
 

New York -- SRS Real Estate Partners said Wednesday it has negotiated two leases on behalf of Miller’s Ale House. The first transaction is a ground lease located on 1.5 acres of land off of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Willow Grove, Pa. The second lease is 9,200 sq. ft. located at the Bergen Towne Center in Paramus, N.J.

Miller’s Ale House is a 60-unit restaurant chain headquartered in Jupiter, Fla.

New York -- Cushman & Wakefield said Wednesday it represented Zero Halliburton Luggage in a lease for 3,900 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail space at 300 Madison Avenue.

Zero Halliburton leased the space for a 10-year term at the 35-story Midtown East skyscraper, which is located at the southwest corner of 42nd Street and Madison Avenue. The 1.1 million-sq.-ft. office property is owned by CIBC/Brookfield Properties.

Phoenix -- Cole Real Estate Investments announced it executed leases totaling 1,658,000 sq. ft. at Cole-related properties throughout 2012.  

The transactions included 390,000 sq. ft. of new leases and 1,268,000 sq. ft. of lease renewals, bringing Cole’s multi-tenant retail property occupancy rate to 97.7%.