Corporate Governance

The Electric Daisy Carnival drew 130,000 young people to Las Vegas on its final day last year. This summer, Billy Joel will sell out his 43rd concert at Madison Square Garden, where floor tickets sell in the $200 range. No matter the age or inclination, people still want to leave the house and be with other people. They just need a really good reason to do so. Here are 10 retail centers that have some of the best reasons:

As striking as is the interior of Swire’s Brickell City Centre, where every turn of every corner is a possible photo for Architectural Digest, it’s the parking garage that impressed me most.

The import tax proposal has officially been removed from the tax reform plan — which is welcome news for retailers across the industry.   On Thursday, congressional and administration leaders announced they would remove the Border Adjustment Tax (BAT) from consideration, and announced an outline for comprehensive tax reform. The BAT provision would have ended importers’ ability to deduct the cost of merchandise purchased from other countries.   

Williams-Sonoma is making its debut in South Korea.   By entering into a strategic franchise agreement with home goods retailer Hyundai Livart Furniture, Williams-Sonoma opened a combined Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids store, as well as a West Elm store in South Korea’s Hyundai City Mall Garden 5. A Williams Sonoma location opened at Hyundai Department store Mokdong. These are the first of 30 stores that Williams-Sonoma plans to open across the country over the next 10 years, according to the retailer.  

Amazon unveiled another private-label collection.   The online giant quietly introduced its new private label shoe and handbag line on Tuesday. The collection, which is called The Fix, comprises trendy designs, including satin slides, colorful sneakers and mules, studded flats, and floral-embellished boots, among other looks, according to Footwear News.  

While Build-A-Bear Workshop continues to navigate amid declining store traffic, the company continues to open new stores.   Build-A-Bear plans to reopen a location in the Southern California market at the end of September. The company recently closed a store operating in the Downtown Disney District in Anaheim, California.  

A 40-year-old mall in San Francisco’s East Bay that was put on the auction block has been snatched up by a partnership that pledges to revitalize the “irreplaceable” property.   New owners LGB Real Estate Companies and Aviva Investors see a successful, mixed-use future for the 1.1 million-sq.-ft. retail center.  

With home remodeling and housing starts on the rise, The Tile Shop is in a sweet spot. The specialty retailer of manufactured and nature stone tiles reported an 8.8% increase in net sales and a 4.9% increase in same-store sales for its first quarter. With 130 stores in 31 states, The Tile Shop displays its tiles in a showroomlike environment that includes full-room tiled displays and a design studio where customers can utilize 3-D renderings to visualize their design ideas.