Apparel

NYC prepares to get Wired
Wired, a Conde Nast brand, is getting ready to open a popup store for the ninth consecutive year in New York City, featuring electronics, rare objects d' art, apparel and accessories, musical instruments, kitchen gadgets and adventure gear.

Located in the heart of the Meatpacking District, at 353 West 14th St., the store will be open from noon-8 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays, from Dec. 4 through Dec. 22. This year’s popup store is sponsored by Citi, the 2014 Corvette Stingray and Delta Air Lines.
E-commerce drives comp growth at Ascena
Ascena Retail Group, parent company of Lane Bryant, Dressbarn and Justice, may have just reported same store sales growth across all its formats and achieved Thanksgiving weekend sales objectives, but president and CEO David Jaffe remains cautious in his outlook for the remainder of the holiday season.

As so many other retailers have noted in recent weeks, Jaffe said this year’s highly competitive, promotional and compressed holiday season makes it difficult to know how the next few weeks will play out, despite the company’s recent performance.

Big Lots appoints three general merchandise managers

Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots announced the appointment of three general merchandise managers as part of realigning the merchandising organization into customer-centric categories of food and consumables, furniture and home decor, and seasonal, toys and electronics.

Trey Johnson was promoted to senior VP, general merchandise manager for food and consumables.
Investing in Extreme Makeovers

Trademark has invested in two distressed properties, with plans to transform both into top performers
The slow recovery is leading many developers to examine growth alternatives to new development. Consider, for example, Fort Worth, Texas-based Trademark Property Co.’s idea: invest in distressed properties with excellent real estate and redevelop into new and ambitious concepts. Examples include The Shops at Napa Center in Napa, Calif., and Victory Park in Dallas.
Optimizing Shopping Center Portfolios

Optimizing retail store portfolios and optimizing shopping center portfolios seem like two different things. In fact, the two tasks have similarities.
“To retailers, optimization is getting store deployment across the marketplace right,” explained Mike Makinen, COO with MPI, Mall Properties Inc., New York City. “We have a similar strategy. We have a mix of retailers within our shopping center portfolio, and we try to optimize the assortment of retailers, restaurants and service tenants within each center.”
Northeast Market Profile Case History: Fashion Bug Disposition

Disposition firm: A&G Realty Partners
Number of properties: 600
Locations: 95% in strip centers, with the balance in middle market malls across the United States
Status: A&G successfully terminated more than 300 leases. The balance had natural lease expirations.
Project Profile: Marlton Crossing

Location: 101 S. Route 73, Marlton, N.J.
Size: 333,255 sq. ft.
Developer: Brixmor Property Group
Major tenants: T.J. Maxx, DSW, HomeGoods, Michaels, Burlington Coat Factory, Five Below
Status: Completed
Project Profile: Moorestown Mall

Location: Moorestown, N.J.
Size: 1,001,000 sq. ft.
Developer: PREIT
Major tenants: Lord & Taylor, Marc Vetri’s Osteria, Jose Garces’ Distrito, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, Regal Premium Experience Theater, Rizzieri Salon & Spa, Francesca’s Collection (in lease negotiations) and a number of best-of-breed regional retailers
Status: Redevelopment to be completed in 2014
Project Profile: Liberty Center

Location: Cincinnati
Size: 1.1 million sq. ft.
Developer: Co-developed by Steiner + Associates and Bucksbaum Retail Properties
Major tenants: Dillard’s Department Store, CineBistro, a 135-room hotel, 220 luxury residential units and 100,000 sq. ft. of office space.
Status: Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2014 with the opening scheduled for summer 2015.
Project Profile: Queens Place

Location: 8801 Queens Blvd., Forest Hills, N.Y.
Size: 445,000 sq. ft.
Developer: Forest City Ratner Cos.
Major tenants: Target, Best Buy, Macy’s Furniture, DSW, Skechers, Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster
Status: Opened in 2001
The Comeback Is On

Developers in the Northeast are renovating, redeveloping and raising rents
What are retail shopping center developers up to in the vibrant northeastern region of the United States?
All across the Northeast — in which we include Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the traditional northeastern states to the north — developers are renovating, redeveloping, raising rents, welcoming tenants and starting to get back to normal.
SIX:02 Puts Fashionable Spin on Fitness

Fitness and fashion are well met at Foot Locker’s newest retail banner, SIX:02. Targeting active, performance-minded young women, the lifestyle brand features apparel, footwear and accessories for a range of activities, from yoga to running to dance — and more.
“SIX:02 is a fitness-fashion destination,” said Mary Lynn Waite, senior designer, Chute Gerdeman, Columbus, Ohio. “The merchandise has crossover appeal in that it can take the customer from the gym to doing errands to meeting friends for coffee to lounging at home.”