Real Estate

By Dustin Watson, partner and director of sustainability, DDG

Place-making has become perhaps the essential element in creating value in today’s competitive retail environment.

Ikea wants to expand the warehouse of its Detroit-area store in Canton, Mich. As a result, Ikea Canton, which opened June 2006 at 311,000 sq. ft., would grow to approximately 355,000 sq. ft. Initial utility work would begin this summer with actual construction starting in autumn. The store would remain open and operational during construction, maintaining its full product offering throughout the project’s completion in spring 2015.

Academy Sports + Outdoors is carrying on with its Midwestern expansion and plans to open four new stores across Indiana and Kentucky later this fall.

The first two locations — Evansville, Ind., and Owensboro, Ky., will mark Academy's entry into both states followed by the opening of stores in Louisville and Middletown, Ky., prior to the holidays. In total, the four stores will generate approximately 575 jobs.

A $325 million expansion underway at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., promises to make the 4.2-million-sq.-ft. retail institution even more of a destination.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart is piloting a new small format convenience concept called “Walmart To Go.” The first Walmart To Go store has opened in Bentonville, Ark., location of the retailer’s corporate headquarters.

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. plans to open five franchise-operated Old Navy stores in the Philippines in 2014. The first two Old Navy stores will open in Manila in March and there are plans to open three more stores in the second half of the year for a total of five Old Navy stores in 2014.

The first of two Old Navy stores, a dedicated three-story building, will open in the heart of Manila’s fashion and shopping district, Bonifacio High Street, on March 22. The second store will open in the prominent Glorietta mall on March 29.

Yonkers, N.Y. – Banana Republic will become a new retailer at the Ridge Hill shopping center in Yonkers, N.Y. Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), the developer and owner of Ridge Hill, said the Banana Republic location will open beneath the center's Uniqlo store.

Northbrook, Ill. – Trustees of Northbrook, Ill. reportedly are considering a 43,000-sq.-ft. retail development. According to the Chicago Tribune, the development sits on a four-acre parcel near the border with Glenview, Ill., which is owned by Svigos Asset Management.

Columbus, Ohio – DSW Inc. reported a net income increase in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 compared to the same period a year earlier, even as net sales dipped. Fourth quarter net income rose 4% to $28.1 million from $27.1 million, while net sales declined 4% to $572 million from $594 million and same-store sales remained flat.

Flat fourth-quarter same-store sales didn’t deter DSW from elevating its outlook for physical store locations while also increasing investments related to omnichannel capabilities.