Mergers & Acquisitions

Mahopac, N.Y. -- Heidenberg Properties announced The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company has executed a lease to occupy 54,000 sq. ft. at Lake Plaza Shopping Center in Mahopac, New York.

The new Stop & Shop will be built from the ground up, replacing the existing 24,000 sq. ft. Key Food and the 7,800 sq. ft. CVS. This redevelopment will be more than 25,000 sq. ft. larger than the two existing stores, expanding Lake Plaza Shopping Center from 141,000 to over 166,000 sq. ft.

The Finish Line has promoted its president to CEO and plans to close a quarter of its stores as the retailer said supply chain problems hurt its third quarter performance.

The retailer announced that Sam Sato will succeed Glenn Lyon as CEO of The Finish Line, Inc., effective Feb. 28. Lyon will transition to the role of non-executive chairman of the board.

Leading department store operator Hudson’s Bay Company confirmed months of speculation and agreed to pay what appears to be a modest sum to acquire online luxury retailer Gilt Groupe.

Hudson’s Bay, which operates 470 department stores including Saks Fifth Avenue and the Off 5th discount format, said it agreed to pay $250 million for Gilt in a deal that will add $500 million to 2016, $40 million in adjusted operating profit by 2017 and countless synergies to leverage the combined companies’ infrastructure and customer databases.

Walgreens Boots Alliance on Thursday reported net sales of $29 billion, representing an increase of 48.5%, for the first quarter 2016 that ended Nov. 30, 2015. The significant growth was attributed to the inclusion of Alliance Boots consolidated results, the company reported.

SPS Commerce Inc., a provider of cloud-based retail supply chain management solutions, is recognizing the need for back-end unification of supply chain and store.

SPS has acquired ToolBox Solutions, a Toronto-based provider of POS analytics and category management services to retailers and CPG suppliers in North America.

Good news for retailers: Banks are flush with money and eager to lend.

“Credit is more available than at any time since the great recession,” said Walter Simson, principal of Chatham, New Jersey, -based Ventor Consulting (ventorllc.com). “A more liberal lending environment has opened a window of opportunity for retailers to get more capital with less risk.”

For the retailing industry, 2015 was another year of seismic shifts as merchants continued to keep pace with the evolving digital landscape. It was also a busy year of executive comings and goings. Here is my pick of industry executives — all new to their positions — to keep an eye on in 2016.

Salt Lake City -- X Team International, an international alliance of retail real estate advisors, announced that partners Mountain West Retail and Investment, Dunbar Commercial and Endeavor Real Estate Group, completed three sale-leaseback transactions to Capview Partners for Melrose Family Fashions totaling 32,160 sq. ft. The Melrose Family Fashions stores included in the transaction are located in three Texas cities: Laredo, Odessa and Rio Grande City.

Kansas City, Mo. -- Taubman Centers and The Macerich Company announced an agreement to purchase Country Club Plaza located in Kansas City, Missouri, from Highwoods Properties. Taubman and Macerich will each have a 50% interest in the center, which will be jointly managed by both companies. The mixed-use retail and office property was purchased for $660 million cash, excluding transaction costs. Concurrent with or shortly after closing, a long-term, fixed-rate loan for 50%-60% of the purchase price is expected to be placed on the asset.

New Hyde Park, N.Y. -- Kimco Realty Corp. announced that Conor C. Flynn, president and CEO, has been appointed to the company’s board of directors effective January 1, 2016, simultaneous with his elevation to the CEO role. Flynn succeeds David B. Henry who retired as vice chairman of the board of directors and CEO on January 1, 2016.