Hospitality

Tucson, Ariz. -- A 17-acre parcel of land at the northwest corner of Houghton and Old Vail Roads in southeastern Tucson, Arizona, is slated to become a new retail and restaurant hub. The site work has begun at Las Plazas at Old Vail, in the form of under-ground utilities, grading, retention/detention, common drive aisles, landscaping, curbs and parking lot lighting.

Chicago -- Mid-America Real Estate Corporation’s Investment Sales team recently brokered the sale of Summit Crossing located in Crown Point, Indiana. The 11,859-sq.-ft. center was purchased by a California-based private investor for $3.2 million.
 
Summit Crossing is located at the southeast corner of Route 55 and East Summit Street in Crown Point, in the Chicago MSA. The 100% leased center features a tenant mix that includes ATI Physical Therapy, Advance Auto Parts, Supercuts and Starbucks.

U.K. toy retailer Hamleys has opened Europe’s largest toy store, a 73,000-sq.-ft. location close to the Kremlin in Moscow. Designed by Fitch, the two-level space is heavy on interaction and is divided into nine themed areas that combine retail and entertainment.

Vancouver, Wash. – Papa Murphy’s Holdings Inc. is running enhanced mobile marketing campaigns using the Waterfall cloud mobile messaging platform. Papa Murphy's in-store promotions, supplemented with text alerts and calls to action that offer coupons and other incentives, are driving more in-store sales and Web traffic.

Optimizing mobile campaigns at both national and franchise levels is an integral part of the company's technology strategy to meet customer needs

Oak Brook, Ill. - McDonald’s USA has decided to give employees a break, in the form of higher pay, paid time off and educational assistance. McDonald’s is raising starting wages at company-owned restaurants in the U.S. one dollar more than the locally-mandated minimum wage, as of July 1.

Emeryville, Calif. - Jamba, Inc. has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Vitaligent LLC to refranchise 100 company-owned restaurants in the San Francisco, Sacramento and San Diego markets. Under the terms of the agreement, Jamba will receive a purchase price of $36.0 million in cash.

Washington, D.C. - An Obama administration proposal to expand overtime and redefine what it means to be a restaurant or retail manager may harm mangers’ career paths and undermine the quality of customer service they are able to provide. According to a new survey 200 salaried retail and restaurant managers conducted for the National Retail Federation (NRF) by GfK Research, 81% of respondents said there would be an adverse impact on customer service.

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Pizza and TV are a natural pairing, and Domino’s Pizza is doing its part to bring them closer together than ever before. Domino’s is now letting customers order food via their Samsung Smart TV.