Finance & Capital Management

Texas is the go-to state for real estate developers in the U.S. and Canada, according to PwC and the Urban Land Institute.   In the 38th annual edition of the joint study, “Emerging Trends in Real Estate,” investment companies surveyed named Austin and Dallas/Fort Worth as the top two cities for development. The Northwest put in the second-best showing, with Portland and Seattle coming in at numbers three and four.  

Metropica, a 65-acre community planned for Sunrise, Florida, will begin building 370,000 sq. ft. of retail, dining, and entertainment space after getting the go-ahead from the town’s Planning and Zoning Committee.   Tenants waiting to fill the space include iPic Theaters, Anthropologie, Fogo de Chao, Kings Bowl, and Kona Grill. Also approved as part of this first phase of construction phase were a 345-unit apartment building, a 240-room hotel, and 140,000 sq. ft. of office space.  

Amazon is poised to become the biggest clothing retailer in the United States in 2017.   That’s according to a report by Cowen & Co., which sees the Internet giant’s clothing/accessories sales increasing some 30% next year to $28 billion, Geekwire.com reported, and to $62 billion in 2021.   Click here to read more.

Consumer confidence experienced an October surprise of sorts after reaching a nine-year high in September.   The index now stands at 98.6, down from 103.5 last month.  

Nordstrom’s longtime CFO is stepping down.    Nordstrom announced that executive VP and CFO Mike Koppel has decided to retire from the company in spring 2017. Koppel will remain in his role until then to support the search for a new CFO and assist with his successor's transition.    Koppel joined Nordstrom in 1999 and has been the company's finance head since 2001.  

The chip card (EMV) era has arrived with the promise that data in retail environments will be better protected. Cardholders will have much greater security at the point of sale with their own card data. But, while it will be much more difficult for thieves to steal card data at the point of swipe, the hackers are still hacking and data is still being lost – almost daily.  

Walmart recently announced that it provided pay increases for its managers who are currently making approximately $45,000 per year. By raising their salaries to $48,500 and keeping their duties intact, Walmart will not need to worry about the new federal overtime rules that go into effect on Dec. 1. As we all know, Walmart sets the pace for change (e.g., selling unboxed deodorant and antiperspirant, selling groceries and general merchandise in the same store, etc.) but will retailers follow suit here by simply increasing wages? Likely not.  

Relatively slow supply chains are hindering department stores’ ability to compete effectively in today’s retail market.