Development/Redevelopment

Formed just three years ago, an aggressive acquirers of grocery-anchored centers has purchased its 34th property.   New Market Properties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Preferred Apartment Communities, has acquired Irmo Station, a Kroger-anchored center in Columbia, South Carolina. The company targets high-yield suburban markets in Texas and the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions and market-leading grocery anchors such as Publix, Kroger, and HEB.  

The willow is associated with weeping, and the appearance of WillowTree Plaza in Cookeville, Tennessee, is certainly sad by modern standards. But now the center near Tennessee Tech University has a new owner and, soon, will get a new look.   Boca Raton-based Fimiani Partners has purchased the 110,000-sq.-ft. center for $4.2 million and plans to invest in a new roof, a repaved parking lot, and a new paint job for Willow Tree.  

Not all department store retailers are closing stores.   Charlotte, North Carolina-based Belk said it plans to open three new stores, part of a nearly $40 million investment in store remodels, capital improvements and new store openings in 2017.  

Trending Stores: No two stores are exactly alike at Warby Parker. But the popular eyewear company’s new store in Los Angeles, above, is a particular standout for its celebration of Hollywood’s moviemaking history. The store combines Warby Parker’s signature library-style design and fixtures with such location-specific elements as a classic movie theater-styled marquee with rotating titles, a Hollywood-themed mural, and a display of movie clapboards behind the checkout.

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.  

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.  

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.

Home improvement start-up is dedicated to healthy, sustainable homes

A start-up home improvement retailer with a green conscience has expanded out of its Austin, Texas, home with a first-of-its-kind store that’s generating lots of buzz.

TreeHouse has opened the nation’s first home improvement “energy positive” (meaning it will generate more energy than it uses) store, at The Hill, a shopping center in Dallas. It’s the start-up retailer’s second location — but not for long. An additional store, planned for the Plano, Texas, area, is due to open this fall.