Strategy

Norwalk, Conn. -- Charter Realty & Development said that it has arranged a 2,350-sq.-ft. lease for Verizon located in the Dress Barn Plaza in Norwalk, Conn.

Dress Barn Plaza also contains Dress Barn and Dress Woman. Verizon will be relocating and expanding from a nearby location.

CINCINNATI and WAYNE, N.J. — Macy’s and Toys"R"Us -- likely the two retailers most associated with Christmas -- have joined together for a unique retail partnership.

Los Angeles -- CBRE Group said Wednesday that the U.S. commercial real estate market continued to show moderate improvement across all property sectors in third quarter 2012.

In the retail sector, properties continued to see modest improvement in availability, which fell 10 bps to 12.9%, during the third quarter.

New York -- Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Retail Group said it has secured a long-term lease for Chill Berry Frozen Yogurt at 2121 Frederick Douglass Blvd., between 114th and 115th Streets in New York City.

It is the second of two Harlem-based stores for the owners, with the first on Lenox Avenue and 131st Street.

Neighboring businesses along the corridor include Harlem Tavern, the 5 and Diamond, Jado Sushi, Posh Paws, Mod Squad Cycles and Best Yet Market.

Mississauga, Ontario -- Walmart Canada said Tuesday it will complete 30 real estate projects by the end of October, including two supercenter conversions and 28 new stores totaling 2.4 million sq. ft. of retail space.

The new stores were former Zellers locations; 10 will be converted to supercenters and 18 will be Walmart Canada discount stores.

“This is an exciting month for Walmart Canada,” said Jim Thompson, COO, Walmart Canada.

SAN FRANCISCO — Gap Inc. is expanding its e-commerce service to Japan. Japaese customers can now shop Gap and Banana Republic products online through its new Japanese e-commerce sites (gap.co.jp and bananarepublic.co.jp).  The sites offer Gap, GapKids, babyGap and Banana Republic products.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. said Tuesday that CFO James Muehlbauer has resigned the company. He will continue in an advisory capacity until Feb. 3.

The retailer said it has launched a search for a permanent replacement.

Muehlbauer’s resignation is the latest in a string of executive departures for Best Buy, and comes as founder and former chairman Richard Schulze mulls an offer to buy the company.

Atlanta -- The SpendTrend analysis for September, released Tuesday by First Data Corp., found that card spending in September was down from the month prior.

The report, which tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations, showed that overall dollar volume growth was 5.8%, down from August’s 7.2% growth.