Real Estate

The former president of Trader Joe's has created a supermarket concept in the Boston area that offers fresh, healthy food at affordable prices. Now just a few months since opening, the store boasts over 300 customers visiting daily and has begun to look into expanding with a second location in the Boston area. [Food World News]

Houston --

Steel City Pops has leased 3,710-sq. ft. of retail space in Heights Plaza, a specialty retail center. Kyle Knight with the Houston office of The Weitzman Group handled negotiations as tenant representative for Steel City Pops.

Heights Plaza, a project of Houston developer Radom Capital, represents the redevelopment of a historic retail property that is home to several Texas-based concepts, including Bird’s Barbershop.

Houston -- Baker Katz announced the sale of a 2.12-acre property with an existing 13,000 sq. ft. office building located in Houston, near the cross streets of U.S. Highway 59 N and West Little York Road.

Baker Katz principal Kenneth Katz made the announcement.

Auto chain Pep Boys announced Monday that a $16.50 per share takeover bid by activist investor Carl Icahn is a "superior offer" to a rival proposal by Bridgestone Retail Operations in September.

It's just the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of who gets to acquire Pep Boys, which has 800 locations in 35 states.

Pep Boys says it now prefers to take the offer from Icahn Enterprises and that Tokyo's Bridgestone Corp. has until Wednesday to up its bid.

Westfield Corp. announced Monday it has sold five of its U.S. shopping malls — totaling more than 6 million sq. feet of retail space across four states — to help fund a property development program. The move is line with the company’s recent strategy to focus on its flagship assets, which include the new World Trade Center mall, due to open in spring 2016.

Forever 21 is growing its its lower-priced format, F21 RED.

The chain has opened three new stores, with locations in Brooklyn, New York; San Diego, California and Kendall, Florida. The Brooklyn store is 35,000 sq. ft., while the San Diego and Kendall locations are more than 20,000 sq. ft.

Forever 21 launched F21 RED, which carries merchandise for men, women and children, in the first quarter of 2014. There are currently more than 20 F21 locations in the United States.

Occupancy costs are among the largest expenses for any retailer. Total lease obligations can exceed long term debt in many companies, reducing profitability and hindering growth. It doesn’t have to be that way though if operators follow four simple rules of retail real estate.

When it comes to retail diversity, Manhattan is about as inclusive as it gets.

A first-of-its-kind survey of 906 existing retailers in three of Manhattan’s leading shopping districts (SoHo, Fifth Avenue, and Madison Avenue) found a virtual “United Nations” of merchants originating from 26 countries. The Cushman & Wakefield study found that nearly four out of 10 retailers – 39% -- originate from outside the United States.