Events

Los Angeles – Global real estate investment and services firm Kennedy Wilson has closed four retail and entertainment lease transactions in Hollywood, Santa Monica and Westchester. This collection of new leases, which carry an aggregate value of more than $3 million, points to an uptick in the Los Angeles retail market.

Los Angeles -- Guitar Center will open a flagship in Manhattan’s Times Square on Aug. 7.

The store is located in the original New York Times building. Designed by Eight Inc., the space will offer a high-energy, hands-on environment in which customers are encouraged to interact with the wide selection of instruments and staff.  

New York - June 2014 showed levels of imports to the U.S. 6% higher than imports in June 2013. According to new data from Panjiva, the numbers of shipments coming into the U.S. also changed .03% from May 2014 to June 2014.

Although Panjiva analysis indicates imports are strong and the U.S. economy generally looks optimistic, a possible port workers strike brewing in California could disrupt 40% of the waterborne goods coming into the country. Situations in the Middle East and Ukraine may cause supply chain disruptions as well.

In the lead-up to the 2014 Budweiser Made in America Festival, the beer company has launched a web series to find an act to add to the festival’s lineup in Los Angeles.  
 
The MADE Underground series — produced by Vice’s music arm, Noisey —follows a Brooklyn band, X Ambassadors, and London street musician, Jamie N. Commons, as they look in cities like St. Louis, Seattle, Rio de Janeiro and Athens.

Brooklyn, N.Y. - Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), owner and developer of Westchester’s Ridge Hill, will host DreamPlace, an interactive Santa adventure. DreamWorks Animation has chosen Westchester’s Ridge Hill as one of just seven locations around the country, and the only one in the Northeast during the 2014 holiday season.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Sam’s Club has purchased an approximately 13-acre parcel to build its new store at Village at the Peaks in Longmont, Colorado. Sam’s Club plans to build a new 136,000-sq.-ft. store to anchor the northernmost location in the project.

The 480,000-sq.-ft. Village at the Peaks is being developed by NewMark Merrill Mountain States and is scheduled to open in late 2015. Other key anchors Whole Foods, Gold’s Gym and a state-of-the-art Regal Cinema.

Pop singer Cody Simpson has become the latest artist to join the American Rag “All Access” campaign, which kicks off July 28 and continues through November. American Rag, available only at Macy’s, launched the program in February, and features exclusive music, videos, online sweepstakes and in-store appearances from some of today’s “rising stars.”

High-end department store Von Maur plans to open its 30th location on October 18 in Oklahoma City. The new location will be the company’s first in the state and will be part of the city’s Quail Springs Mall.

The new store will open in a space that used to house a Sears, and will undergo a complete facelift. Von Maur will create a brick façade on the exterior and sell brands like Brooks Brothers, Hugo Boss and Coach.