Real Estate

QuikTrip Corp. is expanding into two new markets.   The convenience-store chain plans to open a total of 100 stores in the San Antonio and Austin (Texas) areas. Construction is expected to begin this winter, with the first locations scheduled to open in the summer of 2018.   The expansion marks QuikTrip's first new market entry in six years. In 2011, the company launched its Carolinas division, adding 75 stores in Charlotte, North Carolina and Greenville, South Carolina.   

More than 50,000 sq. ft. of new shopping opportunities will soon be presented to shoppers at Ohio’s most popular retail destination.   Easton Town Center, which draws 21 million customer visits a year and houses more than 200 shopping and dining options is constantly in the process of re-curating its mix, and eight new tenants will open at the Columbus venue this year.  

Skechers has debuted a new store format in its largest mall location to date.    The company has opened a 24,000-sq.-ft. outlet store at Ontario Mills, Ontario, California, that houses one of the widest assortments of Skechers products under one roof, with dedicated departments for the brand's various lifestyle and performance collections for men and women. The new Skechers Superstore also features a fun kids’ area, complete with a candy shop and a theater space screening Skechers cartoons.  

It had to happen sooner or later. The hipster pioneers of Brooklyn’s greatest real estate reclamation project are having kids and leaving Williamsburg behind. Many of them have landed in the quaint riverside towns of Westchester County, a swath of land the New York Times has christened “Hipsterbia.”  

Eddie Bauer LLC could be for sale.   The retailer has hired investment banks Guggenheim Partners LLC and Financo LLC to explore strategic alternatives, including a potential sale, Reuters reported. The debt-laden company is seeking relief from a $225 million term loan due in 2020 and $200 million revolving credit line that comes due in 2019, the report said.  

German discount grocer is expanding its presence and investment in the U.S. — on two fronts.    On the heels of its first 10 stores opening in the U.S., Lidl is expanding with more locations. On July 13, the company will open two stores in Virginia (in Chesapeake and Culpeper) and two in North Carolina (Havelock and Wake Forest).  

Noting that necessity-based have proven to resistant to the pressures of online retailers, Westwood Co-CEO Randy Banchik announced his company’s acquisition of The Arbors at Mallard Creek in Charlotte. Purchase price was $25.1 million.    “This asset boasts a variety of internet resistant tenants, insulating it from factors such as the rise of online shopping,” Blanchik said.  

Amazon is impacting its hometown of Seattle in ways large and small.