Development/Redevelopment

Mid-America Real Estate has been tapped to handle the marketing and leasing of the Macy’s building being redeveloped in downtown Minneapolis.   Located on the corner of South 7th and Nicollet Mall, the landmark store that was originally Dayton’s will tie together its street and skyway levels and fill them with entertainment providers, a food hall, and traditional retailers new to the market. 601w Companies and United Properties are the developers.  

Kohler Co. is debuting a retail format designed to showcase its full offering of products and offer on-site product immersion — literally.      The first-ever Kohler Experience Center (KEC), located in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, houses fully-functioning displays of Kohler's global product line — including showers, tubs, sinks and "intelligent" toilets — in what is a first for the brand. The center is open to trade design professionals and regular customers.   

Ikea is looking to open its second location in Tennessee.   The home furnishings chain plans to submit plans to the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, for a store in the Nashville area. Construction of the 341,000-sq.-ft. proposed Ikea could begin in spring with an opening in summer 2020.  

The growth of e-commerce and the increasing emphasis on delivery speed as well as pick-up services for retail goods will likely precipitate a convergence of industrial distribution and retail real estate.   

For retail professionals, the International Council of Shopping Centers’ Spring RECon Convention in Las Vegas is the highlight of the year. There’s always so much to take in, and every year comes with its singular storylines. Here were some of the more dramatic ones at play convention floor:   Food-focused foot traffic

Starbucks is keeping good on its latest national initiative.    The coffee giant said it will open a store in Dallas, in spring 2018, and Trenton, New Jersey, later this year, as part of its program to invest in at least 15 underserved communities across the U.S. by 2018. To date, Starbucks has opened six similar stores, including in Ferguson, Missouri, central Phoenix, and East Baltimore.  

As the International Council of Shopping Centers shut the doors on its RECon show in Las Vegas this week, Chain Store Age asked top brokers and third-party managers for their take on the temperature of physical retail. Not quite sick, not quite well, but certainly out of rehab and hard at work on recovery, was the general diagnosis.  

As many mall-based specialty retailers continue to struggle, off-pricers continue to flourish and expand. And Burlington Stores is no exception.   Burlington's net income in the quarter, ended April 29, increased to $52.4 million, or $.73 per diluted share, which beat Wall Street expectations of 70 cents. In the year-ago period, the retailer reported net income of $37.5 million.