Home Depot

Atlanta – Spring has been a time for fixing up homes and lawns since anyone can remember, but The Home Depot Inc. is giving a modern twist to the process. The Home Depot is offering a variety of omnichannel shopping features, including an “expanded aisles” feature that bridges in-store products to items available on Homedepot.com.

Austin, Texas -- GBT Realty Corp. announced its acquisition of a prime retail site in the heart of one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas and the U.S. Located in Cedar Park, Texas – a community that has grown over 400% since 2004 – Lakeline Commons is a 1.43-acre site that is shadow-anchored by Target and adjacent to The Home Depot.  

GBT acquired the north Austin outparcel for $1.6 million on March 19 from Regions Bank.  No additional terms are available.

Home Depot, which was hit by a widely publicized data breach in 2014, has reportedly hired its first chief information security officer, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Atlanta-based Home Depot Inc. has appointed former Time Warner and Visa executive Jamil Farshchi to the new position of chief information security officer (CISO), according to the Journal.

The move comes months after the home improvement retailer said its payment systems were breached at some 2,200 U.S. and Canadian stores.

New York -- Europe's largest home improvement retailer, Kingfisher, plans to close about 60 underperforming B&Q stores in Britain amid a 7.5% decrease in annual profit, Reuters reported.

Currently, B&Q operates some 360 stores.

In other news, Kevin O'Byrne, CEO for B&Q U.K. and Ireland, will leave the company on May 15, the report said.

New York -- The Home Depot Inc. has appointed former Time Warner and Visa executive Jamil Farshchi to the new position of chief information security officer (CISO), the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. The move comes months after the home improvement retailer said its payment systems were breached at some 2,200 U.S. and Canadian stores.

Atlanta – The Home Depot Inc. was reportedly not in full compliance with data security standards when a major data breach began in April 2014. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, an investigator working for credit card companies said Home Depot was in compliance with data security standards in 2013, but was still working to obtain compliance certification when the 2014 attack occurred.

Home Depot had it first, but now MakerBot is coming to an even wider mass-market arena as the 3D printer rolls out at more than 300 Sam's Club locations in the United States.

By Neil Axler

“You can’t get your nails done online, you can’t get dry cleaning done online and you can’t eat the Internet.” These are the dominant themes from retail clients (property owners) over the last few years. Today’s shopping center acquirers are looking for “necessity centers” with a stable rent roll. These centers consist of restaurants, nail salons and other destination retail that is not competing with e-commerce.