Events

The deadline to enter the Retail Design Institute’s annual store design competition has been extended to January 15, 2016.

The competition celebrates exceptional retail experiences across more than 20 categories from department stores and specialty shops to restaurants and pop-ups. In addition, a single "Store of the Year" will be chosen from among the winning entries.

Sidecar, an early pioneer in the ridesharing and delivery app space, shut down as of Dec. 31.

Houston -- PM Realty Group announced earlier this month that Roka Akor Steak, Seafood & Sushi signed a lease for 6,591 sq. ft. of ground floor space at 2929 Weslayan, the 40-story luxury residential building at the northeast corner of Weslayan and West Alabama in Houston. This will be Roka Akor's first location in Texas, joining its four locations in Scottsdale, San Francisco, Chicago and Skokie, Illinois.

What real estate stories interested you the most in 2015? Following is a round-up of OnSite's 10 most clicked-on stories this year.

Did a last-minute rush make for stronger holiday sales than many — including the National Retail Federation — had expected?

That’s the way it looks based on the MasterCard Spending Pulse report, which found that sales (excluding auto and gas) increased 7.9% during the holiday season, led by double-digit gains in e-commerce, women’s apparel and furniture.

The SpendingPulse report, released on Monday, December 28, looked at U.S. sales trends across cards, cash and checks from Black Friday to Christmas Eve.

With 2016 upon us, many employers find themselves nervously awaiting what election-year politics might bring to their doorsteps. Retailers and restaurant operators, more than ever, have been thrust front and center into the political landscape, with labor issues at the top of candidate's agendas as well as the subject of numerous ballot issues at the state and local level. As a result, the business models and labor practices of entry-level employers are being evaluated by the public in much the same way the candidates are.

The National Basketball Association is set to open a flagship on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue next week. And according to media reports, it includes lots of attenting-getting flourishes.

The centerpiece of the new three-level store, which comes some four years after the NBA closed its previous flagship on Fifth Avenue, will be a 32-foot-tall basketball net with 31,000 LEDs that reaches up to the second floor, Women’s Wear Daily reported. The net, visible from the street, is topped with sculpture designed to replicate a basketball tread.

Springfield, Va. -- PREIT announced that Springfield Town Center in Springfield, Virginia, has recorded $505 PSF in sales for tenants less than 10,000 sq. ft. open during the center's first full year of operation, 18% above the company's portfolio average as of September 30, 2015.

The newly redeveloped 1.35 million sq. ft. regional mall was acquired by PREIT March 2015 and celebrated its grand re-opening in October 2014 after undergoing a dramatic renovation and rebranding.