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A Chicago-based fund manager has acquired BeachWalk on Highway 101 in Solana Beach, California, for $33.25 million.   "True coastal retail projects like BeachWalk seldom come to market,” said John Read of CBRE’s National Retail Partners West unit, which represented the seller, the Orange County-based Muller Company. Solana Beach is north of San Diego.  

Starbucks Coffee Company is going big in the Windy City — in a space that is currently to home to one of the city’s iconic retail flagships.    The coffee retailer will open a four-level, 43,000-sq.-ft. Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Michigan Avenue in Chicago in 2019, in the building currently occupied by Crate & Barrel. The home goods chain, which has operated a store on the site for 27 years, is expected to close its door in early 2018.   

One does not live by bargains alone, and the latest outlet center to realize that and pick up its food and beverage game is The Outlets at Legends in Sparks, Nevada.   RED Development announced that six new restaurants are slated to open at the center, including The Habit Burger Grill, Jersey Mike’s Subs, and Chick-Fil-A. A 75,000-sq.-ft. retail space expansion is also underway, led by a 40,000-sq.-ft. Burlington Coat Factory outlet with a planned opening in spring of 2018.  

Whether treating mom to jewelry or a special outing at her favorite restaurant, consumers plan to spend more than ever on Mother’s Day.   Specifically, Mother’s Day shoppers are expected to spend an average of $186.39 for the holiday, up from last year’s $172.22, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey, which tapped 7,406 consumers about their Mother’s Day plans. The study was conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.  

San Diego-based RAF Pacifica Group recently acquired a 40,000-sq.-ft. land parcel (formerly the site of Cedros Gardens), in the Solana Beach section of San Diego for $5.5 million from a private owner.   The firm plans to develop 26,000 sq. ft. of the property, located within the rapidly growing Cedros Design District. The upscale community is known for its two-and-a-half-block, open-air shopping district housing yoga studios, eateries, galleries, and weekly farmers market.  

The Harris Poll has released its 29th annual study of America’s top brands, and Kohl’s is one of the retail brands on top.   Kohl’s earned the top position in the department store category of the poll, in which more than 100,000 U.S. consumers assessed more than 4,000 brands across more than 450 categories.    Other retailers named as Brands of the Year included:     Luxury department store: Nordstrom  Off-price: TJ Maxx 

Amazon’s cloud computing platform is helping Dunkin’ Brands has secured its customer-facing processes by moving to the cloud.   

FreshDirect, Subway and The Cheesecake Factory have added a new item to their menus — conversational commerce.   Through a partnership with MasterCard, the three brands are now using artificial intelligence (AI)-based bots to enable consumers to browse menus, build orders and securely checkout via Masterpass — all without leaving the Messenger chat-based platform.