Dick's Sporting Goods

Mass retail is at a crossroads. Many of the iconic brands that are mainstays for our biggest and best malls are announcing layoffs and closures. The traditional brick-and-mortar store continues to see reduced foot traffic and most can’t seem to find a remedy. Amid this retail doom and gloom, however, there is one retailer that is rising above the rest: Ulta Beauty.  

On March 7, Edward Stack, CEO and chairman of Dick’s Sporting Goods, announced the company is dropping 20% of its brand offerings. This news is part of a larger redirection for the sporting goods retailer, one designed to optimize its inventory for increased sales.  

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and Accenture on Monday announced the launch of a new initiative that will explore the impact that technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality will have on the retail industry.   RILA’s new (R)Tech Center for Innovation will also help retailers create innovative ways of doing business.  

The struggles — and exits — of former rivals has proved a boon for Dick’s Sporting Goods, which reported fourth quarter sales and earnings on Tuesday that beat the Street.       The company also announced aggressive store expansion plans.   

CBL has sold Cobblestone Village, ad 96,891-sq.-ft. center in Palm Coast, Florida, to RCG Ventures, a privately funded real estate investment group. The selling price was not disclosed.   The Belk-anchored center is a quarter-mile from the Interstate 95 interchange and is adjacent to Lowe’s and Walmart. It was “highly sought after by a variety of institutional and private investors,” said John Crossman, president of Crossman & Company, which handled the sale on behalf of CBL.  

Changes in the retail landscape call for changes in lease agreements, as well

With long-time anchors leaving malls, urgent care clinics moving into neighborhood centers, and online sellers applying pressure from all sides, retailers should take a new approach in structuring their lease agreements with property owners, say experts from both sides of the negotiations table.

RCG Ventures has purchased Oak Brook Square in Flint, Michigan, for $14.2 million. Anchored by TJ Maxx and Hobby Lobby, the 152,073-sq.-ft. center is located across the street from the Genesee Valley Mall in Flint’s largest trade zone.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is expanding its breadth.   The chain is preparing to open five stores during the second week of March, a move totaling approximately 180,000 sq. ft. of retail space.    Specifically, a new Dick’s Sporting Goods will open in the Glendale area of Queens, New York, in one of the former Sports Authority locations that the company took over late last year. Another Dick’s store will open in Hinesville, Georgia.