Strategy

A Delaware developer’s plan to create a green space and shopping center in Lewes, Delaware, an idyllic shore town that was the site of the first European settlement in the state, has encountered a new obstacle.   After overcoming opposition by some residents to the commercial re-zoning of 11 acres in this town north of Rehobeth Beach, J.G. Townsend Jr. & Co. now must content with protestors who say that its proposed Gills Neck Village Center would desecrate a Native American burial ground.  

Chain Store Age offices will be closed December 30 through January 2. We will resume  publishing on Tuesday, January 3. Have a happy, healthy new year!

Holiday procrastinators may have saved retailers this year.       A jump in consumer spending in the final home stretch helped to offset a slow start to the U.S. holiday shopping season, and is likely to help many retailers beat sales forecasts, Reuters reported.    

Sears Holdings’ store portfolio continues to shrink.   The struggling retailer told employees on Tuesday that it will close 30 Sears and Kmart stores in early 2017, reported Business Insider.  

Early in the 20th Century, the Pearl Brewery in San Antonio was the largest in Texas, and it continued to be a renowned site in the city until brewing operations were shut down in the 1980s. It remained vacant until Rio Perla purchased it in 2001 and set about transforming it into the Pearl Brewery/Full Goods Warehouse, a 26-acre mix of residences, retail, offices, and gathering places.   

Los Angeles-based Nasty Gal, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November, may soon have a British owner.   Boohoo.com is bidding $20 million (£16.3 million) for the brand and its customer databases as the “stalking horse” candidate. Based in Manchester, England, Boohoo specializes in fast-fashion and targets teens and young women, the same audience as Nasty Gal.      

New Seasons Market in Mercer Island, Washington, has gone platinum.    The new supermarket received EPA GreenChill Platinum Certification for its efforts in reducing refrigerant emissions (by at least 95%). The 37,000-sq.-ft. store uses a natural refrigerant solution designed for minimal greenhouse gas emissions and superior energy efficiency.   

Rent the Runway’s total investment keeps growing.    The dress rental business announced it has closed on a $60 million round of funding, led by Fidelity Management and Research Company with additional money from such existing investors as Bain Capital Ventures and Highland Capital Partners. Total investment in the company now stands at $190 million.      

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will rule on the Walgreens Boots Alliance-Rite Aid merger before the Trump Administration takes office on Jan. 20, according to the New York Post. The newspaper added approval of the transaction is “not guaranteed.”   “It is most likely [FTC] Chairwoman Edith Ramirez addresses it before she leaves,” a source close to the situation told the news outlet, and not leave it to a Republican-led FTC.  

The comeback of downtown Detroit, led by the expansive District Detroit project under construction, was advanced this week with the opening of The Scott at Brush Park. The upscale, mixed-use development of Broder & Sachse Real Estate and Sachse Construction is located about eight blocks north of District Detroit on Woodward Avenue.