Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty turned in another winning quarterly performance, besting analysts' earnings and sales estimates. The beauty powerhouse also raised its fiscal 2017 guidance.   One of the few specialty retailers with an aggressive store opening program, Ulta Beauty said it remains committed to opening 100 new locations in 2017. It will also remodel 11 stores and relocate seven others.  

Walmart is determined not to cede any ground to Amazon.   In a partnership that takes direct aim at the online giant and its Alexa voice-controlled device, Walmart is teaming up with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items available for voice shopping via Google Assistant, the search giant's online shopping platform that lives on its smart speaker Google Home and other smart devices. It will be the largest number of items currently offered by a retailer through the platform, according to Walmart.   

Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy delivered a stump speech there not long after it opened in 1960. Legions of thriving General Motors employees kept it thriving for decades. But Tech Plaza in Warren, Michigan, suffered a crushing blow when Walmart left in 2008, and the center was nearly vacant when Detroit-based Petzold Enterprises acquired it in 2014.  

Ground has been broken on Kimco’s 102-acre Dania Pointe project in the Dania Beach section of Fort Lauderdale.   Phase one of the mixed-use development will include 300,000 sq. ft. of retail, 80% of which is already leased, according to the company. Along with the requisite food and beverage establishments, TJ Maxx, Hobby Lobby, BrandsMart, and Ulta Beauty have signed on as tenants.  

Chain Store Age announced the selection of the Advisory Board for SPECS/2018, the annual retail event produced by CSA and attended by retail and food-service executives who plan, design, build, and maintain stores and restaurants nationwide.     Now in its 54th year, SPECS will host its 2018 conference in Dallas, at the Gaylord Texan, March 18-20. The event will focus on what’s next, and what is shaping the future of physical retail.  

Multi-brand and vertically integrated beauty stores are shaking up the beauty industry — and growing at a rapid rate.    With hundreds of new doors opening in various formats, cosmetics specialty and vertically integrated stores, such as Ulta, Sephora, Bluemercury, NYX, Kiko Milano, and e.l.f., have grown at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 19% over the past five years, according to a report by research and consulting firm Kline. Such stores now account for an estimated 20% of total beauty market sales. 

Nordstrom will be erecting its second off-price Nordstrom Rack store in Milwaukee. The Seattle-based retailer has announced plans for a 26,800-sq.-ft. location at the Bayshore Town Center in the city’s North Shore.   The Nordstrom Rack will be erected on the site of a vacated Sears at the Olshan Properties center, where a Total Wine & More store is also slated to take up some of the space.  

GDA Real Estate Services has purchased an 174,353-sq.-ft. portion of the Marketplace at Delta Township Lansing, Michigan, in a deal brokered by Mid-America Real Estate Corporation. The sale price was not disclosed.   Key tenants at the acquired property include Michael’s, Petsmart, Tractor Supply, and Ulta Beauty. It is shadow-anchored by Walmart and Lowes.