Development/Redevelopment

The asset disposition company A&G Realty has entered into a joint venture with a supermarket real estate veteran with the business proposition that better data analysis will help retailers be more proactive in managing real estate portfolios.  

Meet the winners of Chain Store Age’s annual Breakout Retailer Awards at SPECS/2017.    The awards, sponsored by Paint Folks, honors innovative retail and restaurant brands that have crossed the “newbie” line and are well positioned for growth in the coming years.   Here’s a look at the winners, who will discuss their concepts at a panel discussion on Tuesday, March 14, at SPECS:  

Target Corp. has a lot on its plate for the next three years.   Among other initiatives the retailer will open 30 small format stores in 2017, doubling its presence in urban markets and on college campuses. By 2019, Target will operate more than 130 smaller stores.  

Publix Supermarkets’ sales and profit rose in the fourth quarter amid continued expansion.      Publix’s net earnings for the fourth quarter rose 4.5% to $544.5 million, from $521.1 million in the year-ago period.   Sales rose 11.1% to $9.1 billion. (The additional week in the fourth quarter of 2016 increased sales by 7.4%.) Same-store sales increased 2.2%.  

The competitive apparel market and a touch retail climate overall has claimed another victim.    BCBG Max Azria Group LLC on Wednesday announced that it taken “the next step in the restructuring of its brands and operations” by filing for Chapter 11 of bankruptcy protection. Earlier this month, the company revealed plans to close 120 stores as part of its restructuring efforts.   

Trademark Property Co. has named Angela Hall to serve as general manager and marketing director at two of its newest properties in Fort Worth — Waterside and WestBend.   Hall recently directed the grand opening of Waterside, a 63-acre mixed-use property. At WestBend, another mixed-use development in the city’s University District, she supported leasing efforts and event programming.    Prior to joining Trademark last year, Hall was marketing director at Vestar.

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It’s been a while since Lamps Plus Inc. opened a new store, since 2009 to be specific.   But that will change this summer, when the retailer opens a store at The Arboretum, an open-air marketplace in Austin, Texas. The location will be the nation’s largest lighting retailer’s 39th store and third in Texas.   

The final clearance sale is already underway at Macy’s store in downtown Minneapolis.     Macy’s Inc. has officially completed the sale of its Minneapolis property to 601W Companies for $59 million in cash. The store is expected to close this spring.       The department store retailer will record a gain for the property of approximately $47 million in first quarter 2017. The gain was originally anticipated and included in 2017 earnings guidance previously provided by the company.

In the wake of a disappointing quarter, Target Corp. is making long-term investments in its future.   The discounter plans to spend $7 billion in cash during the next three years as it lowers its prices and invests in its stores, with renovations planned for some 600 locations, reported CNBC.   "We can't capture that market share if we're presenting an old, tired store," Target CEO Brian Cornell said.  

With just over 50 stores, Quincy Mall is hardly the biggest regional center in the nation, but it’s a big deal in the rural Mississippi River town of Quincy, Illinois, just a skiff’s ride from Mark Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. And it was big news in Quincy when the J.C. Penney in the Cullinan-owned property closed shop.