Marketing

The opening of the newest Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th location near downtown Chicago is a big deal literally and figuratively.

The newest Off 5th is located in the NEWCITY development at Lincoln Park on the northern fringe of downtown Chicago at 1457 Halsted Street at the intersection of North Clybourn Avenue. The store is the company’s 100th Off 5th location in North American, its seventh in Illinois and the second in downtown Chicago following the April 14 opening of the first location as 6 S. State Street.

GNC Holdings Inc. announced Monday it is undertaking a strategic review whose options could include a sale of the company.

The health-and-wellness retailer said it is also considering accelerated refranchising strategies, partnerships and other collaborations, and capital structure optimization. The announcement comes on the heels of disappointing first quarter results.

Sierra Trading Post, an online retailer TJX Cos. acquired in 2012, is accelerating store expansion and could become a new growth driver for the nation’s leading off price retailer with designs on extending its value proposition to the outdoor and active lifestyle world.

Everyone in the Gainesville, Florida, area knows Butler Plaza, the open-air retail center at Archer Road and SW 34th Street. Currently home to more than 1 million sq. ft. of retail and restaurants, it’s where north central Florida residents, 100,000 daytime employees and 75,000 students at the University of Florida and other colleges have filled their basic needs and wants for decades.

Consumers in the Columbus, Ohio, market will soon have a new option for shopping, dining, working, playing and living.

“Hamilton Quarter is a truly mixed-use, cohesive development with more than 300 acres of office, multi-family residential, retail, entertainment, hospitality and senior living offerings,” said Jason Freeman, development manager at Columbus-based fully integrated real estate services firm CASTO.

May in Las Vegas is when the dealmakers come out to, well, make deals, as the International Council of Shopping Centers hosts its annual RECon event at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Westgate Las Vegas Hotel. Held May 22-25 and attended by retailers and shopping center owners from around the globe, RECon will display such project wares as mixed-use destinations, outlet centers, and strip and lifestyle projects — and everything in between.

Editor’s Note: The 27th annual survey of Fastest-Growing Managers tallies new domestic and international third-party management and leasing contracts obtained during the 2015 calendar year and ranks the top performers. As always, the measuring stick is square footage.

This year’s fastest-growing third-party managers are taking many roads to growth, from acquisition to a multidisciplinary focus.

Five dynamic retail and restaurant brands — Altar’d State, Bentley’s Pet Stuff, MOD Pizza, Sugarfina and Warby Parker — took home the honors as the winners of Chain Store Age’s annual Breakout Retailer Awards.

The awards, selected by CSA’s editorial board and sponsored by Paint Folks, recognize innovative retail and restaurant concepts that are on their way up —brands that have crossed the “newbie” line, and are well positioned for growth, in store, online, or both.

James Rhee is a tech-savvy numbers and operations guy, but the private equity investor-turned retailer relied on more than business smarts and technology to help revive Ashley Stewart. Realizing that the plus-size brand inspired a deep love among its customers, he developed a core strategy of kindness and loyalty, a strategy that recognized Ashley Stewart represented respect, community and joy to its shoppers.

With the retail environment changing so rapidly today, and technology impacting everything a store does, the role of the chief financial officer has become more important than ever.

When I started recruiting in 1990, the business was much simpler — we hired retail executives based on a linear skillset, and departments operated in individual silos. Today, it is much more complex, as the C-suite works in collaboration to keep up with an increasingly savvy consumer.

So, what then do you look for in a CFO today?