Strategy

New York City -- PwC US, in its report Experience Radar 2011: Retail Insights, found that retailers that design differentiated ‘experiences’ around their products and services can drive growth, profitability and lasting consumer loyalty, while also maintaining a price premium over competitors.

The study, based on PwC’s Experience Radar methodology, measured the experiences of more than 6,000 U.S. consumers across 11 industries.

Bay Shore, N.Y. -- With a week to Black Friday, Lawrence, a Tensator Group Co., and a provider of queue management solutions, has issued its top five considerations for Black Friday crowd management.

By bearing the following considerations in mind and implementing simple queue management solutions, customers will be able to safely and efficiently move through checkout lines, according to Lawrence,  and retailers can rescue sales that would have been otherwise abandoned.

Indianapolis -- Simon Property Group announced a joint venture with Woodmont Outlets and EWB Development to develop, lease and manage St. Louis Premium Outlets, a new upscale outlet center in Chesterfield, Mo. 

The new outlet center, which was announced in October as Spirit of St. Louis Outlets, will be comprised of 55 acres and will anchor Chesterfield Blue Valley, a mixed-use development to include office space, hotel, restaurant and entertainment venues. 

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners announced it has hired Kyle Stonis as a senior VP in the Atlanta office.

Stonis will focus on strengthening the investment sales platform for SRS in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast.

Previous to SRS, Stonis worked for Bull Realty in Atlanta as a retail investment broker and senior VP.

Dallas -- Cake retailer Nothing Bundt Cakes said it is expanding its Texas presence with four new leases.

The retailer worked with Venture Commercial Real Estate to negotiate new stores in Arlington, Frisco, Flower Mound and Rockwall.

Nothing Bundt Cakes entered the North Texas market in 2007 with a Southlake store and has since added locations in Dallas, Fort Worth and McKinney. The four new leases will bring the total to eight locations open by the end of 2011, with plans to open stores in Plano and the Lake Highlands area in 2012.

Cleveland -- CenterMark Development said it has signed a lease with Deal$, a division of Dollar Tree, to occupy an 11,000‐sq.-ft., former Easttown Eagle Market building in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland.

CenterMark purchased the long‐vacant building in October and said it expects to complete the rehabilitation by the spring of 2012. A grand opening is expected during the second quarter following interior improvements by Deal$.
 

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners said it has hired two new team members in the Chicago office.

Tim Henry has been named senior VP and market leader. He was previously a founding principal with National Facilities Group.

Todd Gould was named senior VP.
 

Columbus, Ohio -- Limited Brands Inc. reported Wednesday that profit for the third quarter rose 22% on higher sales at its Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works chains.

Net income rose to $94.3 million from $61.3 million a year earlier. As reported previously, revenue rose 10% to $2.17 billion.

The company has raised its outlook for the fourth quarter.
 

Kearney, Neb. -- Teen retailer The Buckle Inc. reported Thursday that profit surged 11% to $38.3 million for the third quarter, compared with $34.4 million in the year-ago period.

Online sales increased 25.4% in the quarter. Total revenue climbed 12% to $273.4 million, beating Wall Street’s expected $272.1 million. Same-store sales rose 9.1%.
 

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Ross Stores Inc. reported Thursday its third straight quarter of profits, as net income rose 18.6% to $144 million, from $121.4 million a year earlier. Results met Wall Street expectations.

“Operating our business on lower in-store inventories is driving faster turns and lower markdowns, which continues to benefit profit margins,” noted Michael Balmuth, CEO.

Revenue rose 9.2% to $2.05 billion, beating analysts’ predicted $2.03 billion in revenue.