Retail

Bigcommerce, a commerce platform for growing and emerging brands, has named Tim Schulz as SVP of product management.

Bethesda, Md. — Bed Bath & Beyond has opened a new 23,400-sq.-ft. store at Wildwood Shopping Center in California, Md. This is the retailer’s 19th store in Maryland. J.C. Penney and Belk’s anchor the 289,000-sq.-ft. center. Sax Realty (www.saxrealty.com) represented Bed Bath & Beyond in the transaction. Scheer Partners represented the landlord.

Washington, D.C. — The National Retail Federation (NRF) presented its annual Ring of Excellence, Law Enforcement Retail Partnership and Retail Case of the Year awards during the NRF Loss Prevention Conference and Expo on Thursday, June 12.

Toys “R” Us reported a 4% same store sales increase during the first quarter, a surprisingly strong figure given the weather related challenges cited by other retailers who experienced weak sales.

San Jose, Calif. — PayPal has launched PassPort, a website designed to provide small businesses with free tools to expand their global sales. PassPort provides country-specific guidance on seasonal sales peaks; shipping and distribution logistics; currency exchange and fees; and customs procedures and taxes.

In addition to holiday-specific content, PassPort presents buying and selling patterns around the globe and across key corridors. PassPort helps businesses start selling internationally quickly via direct links to eBay Marketplace tools.

Beachwood, Ohio — DDR Corp. and an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII have announced the formation of a third joint venture to acquire 76 shopping centers currently owned by American Realty Capital Properties, Inc.

The joint venture will acquire the portfolio in a transaction valued at $1.975 billion, including assumed debt of $461 million and approximately $800 million of new financings.  

Dollarama said that its first-quarter results were adversely affected by challenging weather conditions, but the company reported continued growth in sales and net earnings.

Canada's leading dollar store operator of 899 locations across the country reported sales for the quarter of $501.1 million, an 11.8% increase from $448.1 million in the prior-year periord. The increase in sales was driven by the growth in the number of stores in the past 12 months and strong Easter sales and continued organic sales growth driven by comparable store sales growth of 3.3%.

By Jules Polonetsky, executive director, Future of Privacy Forum

In mid- May, over 30,000 professionals from the shopping center industry gathered in Las Vegas for the ICSC’s annual RECon event.

In addition to discussing leasing and the state of the retail market, for the first the first time a new topic was on the agenda – consumer privacy.