Development/Redevelopment

Benicia, Calif. — Cycle Gear Inc. has announced the chain’s first Wisconsin store in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee. With this new location, Cycle Gear now operates more than 100 stores in 29 states.

The Brookfield store is now open now and will have a grand opening celebration from Sept. 13 to Sept. 15 featuring sales and vendor appearances.

London — C.P. Hard will open the doors to its new showroom in the Chelsea area of London during this year’s London Design Festival, which takes place Sept. 14 to Sept. 22.

The new retail space will provide architects, interior designers and consumers with a creative and informative working studio featuring products from C.P. Hart lines.

New York -- Modell’s Sporting Goods will celebrate the grand opening of two of its newest locations on Aug. 30, giving it a total of 155 storefronts.

The new stores are located in Huntington Shopping Center, Huntington Station, N.Y., and in Fivetowns Shopping Center, Rosedale, N.Y. Both locations are on Long Island.

New York -- DSW plans to test a smaller-store format that will run about 10,000 sq. ft., down from its average 22,000-sq.-ft. model.

DSW did not disclose where the tests would be. But CEO Mike McDonald told securities analysts that, if successful, the small-format stores “will create a new growth vehicle for DSW, which could significantly expand our store count potential,” Columbus Biz Insider reported.

DSW is on track to open 30 stores in 2013.
 

New York -- Analysts project that Francesca’s, a junior apparel and accessories retailer, will have the retail industry’s fastest rates of growth during the next three years, Bloomberg reported.

Francesca’s plans to expand to 900 stores, or double its current store count, in the next seven years.  The chain is projected by analysts to grow sales by 80% during the next three years, faster than any other apparel retailer, according to the report.

Destin, Fla. — H&M and Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl & Grill will anchor a 100,000-sq.-ft. expansion of Destin Commons slated to open in mid-2014.

Construction is underway on the 20,000-sq.-ft H&M store, the first H&M in northwest Florida.

Uncle Buck’s, a concept by Bass Pro Shops, will offer casual dining and 16 lanes of bowling. Uncle Buck’s has also taken 20,000 sq. ft.

The expansion will include about 20 additional stores and restaurants.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma on Wednesday reported better-than-expected second-quarter profit amid same-strong sales. The retailer raised its full-year forecast, but its profit outlook still fell short of market expectations.

The company also announced that it will expand its international presence, adding more stores in Australia and entering the United Kingdom later this year, and debuting in the Philippines in 2014.

New York -- Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M will open its largest location to date, a 63,000-sq.-ft. flagship in New York City’s bustling Herald Square. Scheduled to open in fall 2014, the four-level store will be located in Herald Center, a JEMB Realty property. The landlord’s broker is CBRE.
 

The New York press has been all abuzz over the latest news about Nordstrom’s new Manhattan digs – that the West 57th Street space is officially Nordstrom’s.    

Urbi et Orbi (The City and The World): The phrase is not just the theme of an annual speech from the Pope, but also summarizes what’s taking place in retail across North America: urbanization and globalization.