Real Estate

As department stores trim their portfolios, the nation’s malls are being transformed.   

Madison Marquette’s transformation of the MarketFair center in West Windsor, New Jersey, will be complete with next week’s opening of the first Free People store in the Princeton area.   Free People has become a sought-after retail brand known for bringing new creative flair to women’s apparel retailing.  

A brand new women’s contemporary apparel and accessories brand with a French aesthetic is moving fast out of the starting gate.   

After growing its store base through an acquisition last year, Weis Markets is investing $90 million in its growth in 2017.    The budget includes new stores and remodels of existing locations. It also calls for supply chain improvements and continued information technology upgrades.    

A San Diego strip center that underwent a repositioning and renovation over the past two years is welcoming six new tenants.   The Presidio, which sits below the 18th Century Presidio fortress in the Linda Vista community has transformed its retail lineup with the signings of Rip Curl, Luv Bridal, Hopsy, Babe Kombucha, West Coast Veterinary Hospital, and Sharetea.  

Dollar General Corp. has added to its portfolio through an acquisition.    The Federal Trade Commission has approved the sale of 323 Dollar Express stores by Sycamore Partners to Dollar General, reported Reuters. The Dollar Express chain is made up of former Family Dollar stores that Family Dollar sold to Sycamore Partners in late 2015. Sycamore Partners bought the stores in 2015 when Dollar Tree sold the stores in order to win antitrust approval to buy the Family Dollar chain.   

A Chicago-based fund manager has acquired BeachWalk on Highway 101 in Solana Beach, California, for $33.25 million.   "True coastal retail projects like BeachWalk seldom come to market,” said John Read of CBRE’s National Retail Partners West unit, which represented the seller, the Orange County-based Muller Company. Solana Beach is north of San Diego.  

Target Corp. is extending its progress to renewable energy and making progress on its goal to have 500 buildings with rooftop solar panels by 2020.   

E-commerce driven Bonobos continues to expand its physical presence.   The upscale menswear retailer added three new stores (which it calls “guideshops”), with locations at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles; the Summit in Lexington, Ky.; and Chicago’s Southport neighborhood, reported wwd.com. Another outpost is due to in Denver next week.  

In a major restructuring of its eastern U.S. distribution network, Ace Hardware Corp. intends to open a new 1.1. million-sq.-ft. Retail Support Center in Pennsylvania while closing a handful of other facilities.   The moves will play out over the next 24 months.