Financial/Banking

Delays in the required certification of payment terminals that accept credit and debit cards with embedded chips are frustrating many retailers, particularly midsized ones, and also costing them as, since Oct. 1, stores that cannot accept chip cards have had to shoulder the cost of fraud — and banks are not shy about passing along the bill, the New York Times reported.

Tacoma, Wash. -- Vestar announced that it has acquired James Center located in Tacoma, Washington, for $31.4 million.

The 140,240 sq. ft. center is located directly across from Tacoma Community College, which enrolls nearly 14,000 students per year. James Center is anchored by Fred Meyer and Rite, as well as feature tenants: Starbucks, Subway, Verizon, Menchie’s, U.S. Bank, IHOP, FedEx Kinko’s and Ivar’s.

Los Angeles -- CBRE Group for the fifth consecutive year was the top-ranked firm for commercial real estate investment sales throughout the world during 2015, according to Real Capital Analytics (RCA). CBRE has achieved the number one position in each of the five years that RCA has published global rankings.

Real Capital Analytics credited CBRE with 21.9% of market share across all property types, office, industrial, retail, apartment and development sites, in 2015 on a global basis.

The struggle to dominate leading-edge mobile payment technology may be taking an even more competitive turn. According to Re/Code, Amazon.com has filed a patent application for a process that would allow consumers to authenticate mobile transactions with digital photos of themselves, rather than with passwords. MasterCard recently announced it will roll out a similar-sounding technology called “Selfie Pay.” [Re/Code]

The Fresh Market has agreed to be acquired by a private equity firm several months after the retailer said it would initiate a review of strategic alternatives and a possible sale.

The struggling grocery chain said it has entered into an agreement with Apollo Global Management, LLC whereby it will acquire The Fresh Market for approximately $1.36 billion. The Fresh Market has been struggling with declining sales through several quarters, and customers have complained about high prices. Recently it had launched an effort to promote "lower prices." 

Growth at Citi Trends Inc. seems to be slowing, as the retailer reported a drop in comps and profit in the fourth quarter.