Development/Redevelopment

Shopper center operators have a new ally in their efforts to drive traffic called Cowboys Saloon: American Bar & Grill.

Cowboys is a new food and entertainment concept billed as a destination restaurant and country-western venue that is looking to grow rapidly the next few years. Founded six years ago, Cowboys is on a growth trajectory to operate more than 20 locations by 2018, up from the seven locations that will be open by year end.

The steel framing on Ikea’s future Memphis store has progressed far enough to allow for the installation of the chain’s iconic blue panels, a construction milestone that keeps the store on track to open this fall.

The 271,000-sq.-ft. store is being built on 35 acres in the Wolfchase Corridor along the southwestern side of Interstate-40 near the Germantown Parkway exit.

Diverse and high profile is how Schostak Brothers & Company describes the tenant mix at their southeastern Michigan shopping center and several recent additions ensure the venue lives up to that billing.

Trader Joe’s, DentalWorks, One Society and Brain Balance Achievement Centers have joined the Northville Park Place shopping center located on the southwest corner of 7 Mile and Haggerty Road in the Detroit suburb of Northville.

Pre-leasing has begun on a $100 million mixed-use complex developed by Forest City Realty Trust that offers retailers an interesting opportunity to serve the bustling Chinatown area of Los Angeles.

The project, named Blossom Plaza, will feature 237 apartments and 19,000-sq.-ft. of commercial space on a two acre tract at the intersection of Broadway and College Street. Leasing the space on behalf of Forest City will be JLL VP Lorena Tomb and associate Danielle Cornwell.

Sears Holdings announced its latest round of store closings as it continues to look for ways to cut expenses and return to profitability after five years of losses.

The embattled retailer, which has been steadily shrinking its physical portfolio over the last few years, will close 68 Kmart and 10 Sears stores this summer. (See list of locations at end of story.) In February, Sears warned it would speed up the closing of unprofitable stores.

A major Manhattan subway station concourse that had been closed since 2009 has been transformed into a lively shopping and dining destination.

TurnStyle, an underground marketplace inside the Columbus Circle 59th Street subway, is now open to the public.

Financing for the project was provided by Goldman Sachs, through its Urban Investment Group.

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that also applies to Amazon.com’s distribution network.

The digital retailing giant plans to open a sixth Texas fulfillment center in Haslet, making it the fourth Amazon fulfillment center in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Amazon currently employs more than 8,000 full-time hourly associates at its Texas fulfillment centers and plans to create 1,000 more full-time positions in the new Haslet facility when it opens.

Emerging food service concept Maple Street Biscuit Company is the latest addition to one of Gainesville, Fla.’s fastest growing retail destinations.