News Briefs

Ohio-based real estate investment firm Last Mile Investments (LMI) has entered a new region with its latest property acquisition.

LMI has purchased the Morris Marketplace shopping center in Morristown, N.J., located west of Newark, marking its first property in the Northeast. Featuring 85,513 sq. ft., tenants include Starbucks, Panda Express, Tropical Smoothie, Habit Burger, Just Salad, Jersey Mike’s, Orangetheory Fitness, Wells Fargo, AT&T, Advance Auto Parts and America’s Best, and more. Opened in 2023, the center is 100% leased.

“Although a new market for us, our acquisition of Morris Marketplace certainly reflects our continued focus on the highest quality suburban locations, with high barriers to entry, and strong tenant demand,” said Ryan Moore, CEO of Last Mile Investments. “We could not be more excited about the long-term opportunity with this asset and will be looking to expand our presence in this particular market and others like it throughout the Northeast.”

Built on the former corporate campus of Colgate-Palmolive in Morris County, Morris Marketplace is just three minutes from the Morris Plains and Morristown New Jersey Transit rail stations. Taft Law represented LMI in the acquisition.

The Morris Marketplace acquisition comes after LMI purchased its third Texas shopping center in a span of months.

[READ MORE: LMI purchases third Texas center]

Cincinnati-based LMI’s portfolio includes approximately 35 assets, most of which are located in the Sunbelt region.

(Image courtesy of LMI)

The Michaels Companies has ended its search for a new chief executive.

The arts-and-crafts retailer named David Boone as CEO, effective February 28, 2025. Boone, who will also serve on the company's board, succeeds Ashley Buchanan, who stepped down in January to take the top job at Kohl's. 

Boone is currently the interim CEO of Essendant, a wholesale, e-commerce and 3PL company. From 2018 to March 2024, he served as CEO of Staples Canada where he led a six-year transformation, redefining its retail experience, expanding merchandise offerings, and scaling its services and B2B businesses through acquisitions and strategic partnerships, Michaels stated in a release.

Before Staples, he held leadership roles at TD Bank USA. He also held a variety of executive positions during his 16 years at Loblaw Companies, Canada's largest retailer, where he led its national wholesale club division.

"As we enter an exciting period of opportunity for Michaels, we are pleased to welcome David to the company," said Andrew Jhawar, chairman of The Michales Companies. "David is a proven business leader with the strategic vision, customer focus and vast retail experience to continue to drive Michaels forward."

"I am honored to join Michaels, an iconic retailer and the leading creative destination for millions of customers across North America," said Boone. "I am excited about the tremendous opportunity to continue to build on the momentum to drive long-term growth and deliver a best-in-class customer experience."

Michaels operatea over 1,300 stores in 49 states and Canada.

The flared Celine jeans worn by rapper Kendrick Lamar during his Super Bowl performance sparked as much interest among some viewers as his lyrics.

Visits to American Eagle Outfitter stores rose 22.16% in the week following the Super Bowl, compared to the previous period, according to data from AI-powered consumer insights company Pass_By. Visits spiked nearly 30% (29.63%) on the Monday immediately after the big event as shoppers sought similar — if less pricey — denim styles. (The Celine jeans worn by Lamar cost $1,200).

In other findings, Lamar’s collaboration with Uniqlo at the Super Bowl helped fuel a 7.73% rise in visits to Uniqlo stores, highlighting the power of the half-time show and artist-brand partnerships, noted Pass_By. (The dancers backing Lamar during his performance were wearing Uniqlo t-shirts.)

“Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show wasn’t just a moment in music — it was a retail driver,” said James Ewen, VP marketing at Pass_By. “Whether it’s a high-profile collaboration like Uniqlo or a long-standing affinity like American Eagle, the data shows that aligning with culture has a direct impact on store foot traffic.”

Tempur Sealy International has made it official.

The bedding company has completed the change of its name to Somnigroup International Inc. Shares of Somnigroup common stock are now trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "SGI."

The company first announced the name change the same day it completed its acquisition of mattress specialty retailer Mattress Firm in a $5 billion deal. The new name is derived from the Latin words "somn," meaning sleep, "omni," meaning all, and "group" to reflect Somnigroup’s position as a global provider of sleep solutions with an integrated omni-channel strategy, according to the company.

"Somnigroup is the world's largest bedding company, with superior capabilities in design, manufacturing, distribution and retail while owning a portfolio of the most highly recognized brands in the industry,” said Scott Thompson, chairman and CEO, Somnigroup.

Mattress Firm, Dreams and Tempur Sealy will operate as decentralized business units under Somnigroup International, with Mattress Firm and Dreams continuing as multi-branded retailers. Tempur Sealy, primarily a manufacturer, will continue to serve third-party retailers as well as Mattress Firm, Dreams and Tempur Sealy direct-to-consumer channels.  

GameStop Corp. continues to shrink its footprint in global markets.

In a very short press release, the video game retailer said that, as part of its evaluation of its international assets, it intends to pursue a sale of its operations in Canada and France. (As of February 2024, Game Stop had 203 stores in Canada and 314 stores in France.)

For its third quarter (ended Nov. 2), GameStop’s net sales fell 20% to $860 million. During the quarter, the company initiated a plan to wind down in Germany, with store operations scheduled to end by the close of the fiscal year. It also initiated a plan to divest its operations in Italy.  

GameStop’s stock has been rallying amid growing speculation that the company may start investing in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. In 2022, GameStop launched a digital marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). However, the firm shut the marketplace down in early 2024, citing “regulatory uncertainty of the crypto space.”

The TikTok social media network is helping shoppers on its e-commerce site locate items that have been vetted by other customers.

The video-focused social media platform’s TikTok Shop U.S. e-commerce site, which brings shoppable videos and livestreams from retailers, brands and content creators directly to user feeds across the country, now offers a “Most Loved” badge .

TikTok Shop issues the Most Loved badge to highlight products across a variety of categories including electronics, office supplies, books, personal care, beauty, home goods, fashion, and consumables that have a combination of the following characteristics:

• High ratings
• Low rate of returns
• A history of on-time shipping
• Quality customer service

Additional products will receive the Most Loved Badge as time goes on, partially based on customer ratings. 

[READ MORE: TikTok releases new resources to help creators sell on its platform]

Trump pauses TikTok ban

On Jan. 20, 2025, shortly following his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order repealing a ban that had briefly gone into effect on TikTok in the U.S. for a 75-day review period.

The TikTok app had briefly gone dark in the U.S. during the weekend of Jan. 18-19 following a unanimous ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that a congressional act making it unlawful for U.S. companies to distribute, maintain, or update TikTok unless U. S. operation of the Chinese-owned platform is severed from Chinese control would go into effect. 

Trump has also issued an executive order for the federal government to establish a sovereign wealth fund, which uses government assets to invest in global markets, companies, real estate and private equity. The fund could be used for the U.S. government to purchase a partial or whole stake in the U.S. business of TikTok, which would avoid the ban long-term.