Retail

Chicago -- Pine Tree Commercial Realty has acquired Poplar-Prairie Stone Crossing, a class-A power shopping center located in the Northwest Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The recent acquisition is Pine Tree’s 70th and brings the company’s current portfolio to 3.4 million sq. ft. in 19 separate properties.

The 312,000-sq.-ft. shopping center is shadow-anchored by Target and features TJ Maxx, Michaels, Ross Dress for Less, PetSmart, Lane Bryant, and Sports Authority.

Canton, Mass. – Charges related to the decision by Destination XL Group Inc. to exit the Sears Canada Direct business resulted in the retailer’s net loss growing to $4 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, from $1.6 million a year earlier.

Total sales fared better, driven by increased traffic and higher conversion rates, increasing 6% to $103.7 million, compared with $98 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2013.Same-store sales rose 7%.

Digital talent is a hot topic among retail CEOs today — primarily, where to find enough talent to develop the organization’s “digital DNA” at every level and in every area of the business. With digital talent within retail in short supply, we now have to proactively go further afield — whether in travel, finance, the tech industry or elsewhere — to identify and woo the digital experts our companies need to grow.

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack is partnering with Defense Mobile Corp., a Connecticut-based veterans mobile service company to be the exclusive national retailer for Defense Mobile's new nationwide 4G LTE mobile services.

RadioShack will begin offering Defense Mobile's branch branded mobile services exclusively to the 51.6 million members of the U.S. military community, including those actively serving (including members of the Reserve and National Guard), veterans and their family members, planned for September.

One retail category that’s been fascinating to watch evolve over the last several years is the women’s athletic apparel segment. Judging by the number of times reporters have asked me about women’s athletic apparel retailers in the last few months, I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Walmart’s seemingly endless Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation and mounting expenses drew the attention of the New York Times again this week which explored arcane legal issues that have muzzled a former Walmart lawyer.

Abercrombie & Fitch credited an ongoing profit improvement initiative as driving its net income growth in the second quarter, which increased 13% to $12.9 million, from $11.4 million a year ago, and beat Wall Street estimates.

But the company’s revenue decreased 5.8% to $890.6 million in the quarter, and same-store sales dropped 7%, with U.S. same-store sales down 5%. The third quarter may see some progress, however, since it will include back-to-school sales.

Chicago -- JLL has bolstered its tenant representation practice with the addition of Jason Press as VP in the firm’s Chicago office, working on the team lead by executive VP Lew Kornberg.

Press joins JLL with more than 15 years of real estate experience facilitating hundreds of transactions valued in excess of $500 million. Prior to JLL, he co-founded North Park Properties to acquire investment properties in the Chicagoland area.