Real Estate

New York — U.K. fashion retailer Topshop in March will open its third U.S. location, a 20,000-sq.ft. Topshop/Topman flagship in Las Vegas’ Fashion Show Mall.  

 As previously reported,  the company’s second U.S. store is due to open this fall, in Chicago. 

New York — Borders Group moved closer to liquidation after a judge on Thursday approved its motion to auction itself off with an offer from liquidators as its opening bid. The retailer said it will accept bids until 5 p.m. Sunday and will give notice by Monday if no other bidder emerges.

New York — Gap Inc. is expanding its Athleta brand. The company will open eight to 10 Athleta stores in 2011, with a total of 50 expected by 2013, according to Women’s Wear Daily. 

As previously reported, Athleta will make its New York City debut this summer, opening two locations in Manhattan.

New York — Najafi Cos., the private equity firm that tentatively agreed to purchase bankrupt Borders Group, is is reportedly no longer interested in Borders unless its conditions are met, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Najafi, which owns the Book of the Month Club, said in a statement that financial advisors “have elected another option which is in contrast to what he had envisioned for the future of Borders.”

Chicago -- Jones Lang LaSalle announced Wednesday that The Kroger Co. is undertaking an initiative with JLL to conduct a strategic review of a group of its retail assets, in tandem with Kroger’s divisional real estate teams, to explore optimization strategies for a select portfolio of operating stores.

In addition, Jones Lang LaSalle has been selected, among others, to participate in developing disposition strategies for a portion of the retailer’s closed store portfolio.

Farmington Hills, Mich. -- Pet specialty retailer Pet Supplies “Plus” announced Wednesday that it has promoted Dave Bolen to president and CEO, effective immediately.

Bolen joined the company on May 2 as president, arriving from Petco where he was executive VP and chief merchandising officer.

Prior to Petco, Bolen was executive VP merchandising, marketing and supply chain for Jo-Ann Stores.

Harvey Solway has been promoted from CEO to Executive Chairman.

New York City -- In an address Wednesday at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Los Angeles, COO Kevin Turner said that Microsoft hopes to open 75 freestanding Microsoft stores within the next two to three years.

“We’re going to open up to 75 more stores over the next two to three years, and continue to bring our stores outside the U.S. as well, so we’ve got a huge opportunity to get the Microsoft story out there, and we’re going to keep driving that,” Turner said.

Retail site selection is not just a matter of available real estate. It’s an analytical challenge that requires sophisticated statistical modeling and a thorough understanding of the market potential of a location. Devon Wolfe, managing director of Americas Strategy & Analytics, Troy, N.Y.- based Pitney Bowes Business Insight, discusses the Top 10 most common mistakes that seem to repeatedly plague businesses and hinder their success:

1. Assuming you can build a model for all situations