Corporate Governance

Fort Worth, Texas – RadioShack Corp. will reportedly auction the leases of 2,000 stores in March, while GameStop has entered the picture as a bidder. According to Reuters, the bankrupt retailer received court approval to hold the auction on March 17 with Standard General making an initial “stalking horse” bid of $200 million and will move the date back to March 23 if more bidders emerge.

Fort Myers, Fla. – Chico’s FAS Inc. announced plans to open 40 new stores and spend $30 million rolling out new POS systems, including mobile technology, in fiscal 2015. But the retailer also said it would shutter 120 existing locations over the next two years to improve its overall store fleet productivity and slash jobs. The closings are expected to ultimately result in expense savings of approximately $55.2 million upon completion.

Austin, Texas -- Retail Properties of America, Inc., closed on the acquisition of Cedar Park Town Center, a 181,000-sq.-ft. community center located in Cedar Park, an Austin, Texas submarket. The purchase price was $39.1 million.

The property is situated at the intersection of two major freeways, with visibility and access to more than 73,000 vehicles per day. Cedar Park is shadow-anchored by Costco and is 94.5% occupied and leased to a lineup of national and regional tenants, including At Home, Chipotle, BJ’s Brewhouse and In-N-Out Burger.

Pleasant Prairie, Wis. -- Mid-America Real Estate Corporation’s Investment Sales team recently brokered the sale of The Plaza at Prairie Ridge located in Pleasant Prairie (Kenosha County), Wisconsin. The 9,035-sq.-ft. three-tenant center was purchased by Mark Cosenza, VP of Oak Brook, Illinois-based Inland Real Estate Acquisitions, Inc. The seller was Milwaukee-based Evo Properties, LLC.
 

Madison, Wis. -- Two locally owned businesses – Mes Amies and Waxing the City – will join the tenant lineup as part of the redevelopment of Hilldale shopping center, located in Madison, Wisconsin.

Women’s apparel boutique Mes Amies will open this summer, a relocation from Chicago. And waxing and personal care studio Waxing the City will make its Wisconsin debut with the Hilldale store, also slated to open summer 2015.  

Dublin, Calif. -- dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc., will open a new store in north Jacksonville, Florida.  The opening is slated for Feb. 28.

The new store is located in Highland Square at Dunn Avenue and Monaco Drive off Interstate 95. Florida is the retailer’s third largest state with a total of 25 stores. Including this new location, dd’s Discounts will operate over 150 locations in 15 states.
 

Lakeland, Fla. -- Retail Solutions Advisors (RSA) has been selected as the exclusive leasing representative for Crosswinds, a 139,037-sq.-ft. community shopping center near Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg, Florida.  

Current anchors include Marshall’s, Michael’s and Bed Bath and Beyond.
 
The property is owned by Crosswinds St Pete, LLC, who will continue to manage the center.

Off-price department store operator Steinmart is looking to capitalize on favorable business trends this year with an aggressive expansion plan that will see the company add 11 new stores.

The Jacksonville, Fl.,-based operator of 270 stores had indicated last fall it would open 10 new stores this year, but after reporting better than expected sales results the growth target was increased by one location. Steinmart opened nine new stores last year as part of a renewed commitment to physical expansion.

Apparently a lot of consumers shopped for lingerie and bath products this holiday season, if the profits at L Brands Inc. are any indication.

The Columbus, Ohio-based parent company of Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works reported that it earned $564.8 million, or $1.89 a share, for the quarter ended Jan. 31, up from $489.6 million, or $1.65 a share, a year earlier. Net sales rose 7% to $4.07 billion and same store sales rose 6%.

The CEO of Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. credits consumers’ increasingly strong “desire to eat healthier” with his company’s big sales surge in the fourth quarter.

The Arizona-based company posted sales of $734.6 million, an increase of 21%, for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 28. Same store sales were up 8.5%.