Finance & Capital Management

Beachwood, Ohio — DDR Corp. has announced the completion of a $12 million redevelopment project at Sandy Plains Village, a power center located in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell.

The redevelopment installed a 60,000-sq.-ft. Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in a space formerly occupied by a traditional grocer. The new location is DDR’s 79th Wal-Mart store and the company’s eighth in the Atlanta market.

Eight months into his role as CEO and with a new merchandising organization in place, David Campisi is following a familiar blueprint to reinvigorate the performance of Big Lots — making hard choices to streamline operations, implementing new merchandising strategies and lowering near-term expectations.

Washington, D.C. -- The retail industry will lose an estimated $8.76 billion to return fraud this year, and $3.39 billion during the holiday season alone, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2013 Return Fraud Survey. Overall, 5.8% of holiday returns are fraudulent, up slightly from 4.6% last year.

Quebec City, Quebec – La Maison Simons will open a 113,000-sq.-ft. flagship at Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga, Ontario in spring 2016. The two-level Simons store will be the retailer’s first store in Ontario and represents a $52 million investment and will occupy a large portion of the existing Sears store as part of Square One's ongoing development projects.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores reported mostly negative financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2013. Net earnings fell about 12% to $7.69 million, from $8.76 million.

A 2% decrease in same-store sales and unfavorable calendar shift due to the 53rd week in fiscal 2012 offset slight growth in net sales to $561.1 million from $556.9 million.

Sears Holdings' plan to spin off Lands' End may have gotten all the attention on Friday, but the retailer’s former hometown and outlet stores division shared results showing how it has fared after receiving similar treatment a year earlier.

The Westfield Group has agreed to purchase the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s remaining 50% interest in the World Trade Center’s retail square footage. The purchase price is US$800 million. Following the transaction, expected to close early next year, Westfield will own 100% of the retail space, which totals 365,000 sq. ft.

Fort Worth, Texas — Trademark Property Co. and Zapolski Real Estate LLC have announced a joint venture to lead the $25 million redevelopment, now underway, of Napa Center, a 153,000-sq.-ft. retail and hospitality district in the heart of downtown Napa, Calif.