Apparel

Millennials and boomers are driving an urban push

Generations after people deserted cities for the suburbs, young millennial-generation adults and older baby-boomer adults are moving back downtown.

Retailers aren't far behind, and new, seemingly instant neighborhoods — complete with housing, retail, offices and other forms of real estate — are springing up in redevelopment areas of cities across the country.

WOODBURY TOWN CENTER

Location: Irvine, Calif. (SR 133 —the Laguna Freeway and the I-5 Santa AnaFreeway)

Size: 462,000 sq. ft.

Developer: Irvine Co. Retail Properties

Grocery anchors: Ralphs Fresh Fare, Trader Joe's

Key tenants: Home Depot, LA Fitness, Walgreens, Staples

Status: Open and operating since 2007

Turns out, malls and grocers were made for each other.

A few years ago, Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) renovated Plymouth Meeting Mall in Philadelphia’s northwestern suburbs.

The renovation replaced an old Ikea on the site with a lifestyle component called Plymouth Meeting Mall’s Plaza Shops, which leads customers to the mall entrance.

PREIT brought in a 65,000-sq.-ft. Whole Foods Market as the anchor. 

It could be a smaller-store footprint. Or a design makeover. Or a totally new format. But there comes a time when even the largest and most successful retailers need to freshen up or rethink their store identities. Here's a look at four brands that are trying on new looks.

In retail, as in life, experience is everything. Whether it’s online, on a smartphone or in the store, it really doesn’t make a difference. A bad experience will turn off customers, while a good one will build brand advocates. It’s always been like that, of course. But today’s technology-enabled shoppers have changed the rules of the game by upping the stakes considerably.

Seattle -- Nordstrom is expanding its partnership with Britain’s fashion-forward women’s apparel brand, Topshop, as well its men’s unit, Topman. Beginning in September, Nordstrom will add 28 Topshop departments and eight Topman departments in stores across the country.

As part of the expansion, Nordstrom and Topshop will partner on a national campaign.

Columbus, Ohio -- DSW Inc. improved upon its results from the second quarter of fiscal 2012 in the second quarter of this fiscal year, reporting increases in net income, sales and same-store sales. The company had net income of $33.7 million, including net after-tax losses and charges, a 15% boost from reported net income of $29.3 million a year earlier.

In addition, net sales rose 9.7% to  $562 million. Same-store sales increased 4.4%.

Vero Beach, Fla. -- Boston Barricade Company was chosen as the exclusive barricade and graphics provider for the grand opening of the Fashion Outlets of Chicago., Rosemont, Ill. The first fully enclosed mall to open in the Chicago-area in over 20 years, the 530,000-sq.-ft. center is developed, owned and operated by AWE Talisman and managed by Macerich, a national mall developer.

Whatever happened to the customer? It’s a question I’ve been asking myself more and more lately, and one that more than a few national brands should be working harder to answer. At a time when retail is evolving in exciting ways, one of the most disappointing trends over the last several years is a conspicuous (and costly) lack of focus on the customer.

Bakersfield, Calif. — Foot Locker and Victoria’s Secret have expanded and remodeled at the 1.1 million-sq.-ft. Valley Plaza Mall in Bakersfield, Calif. Victoria’s Secret has also opened a new store for the popular PINK brand.

The newly remodeled Foot Locker, now spanning 5,000 sq. ft., plans to introduce an exclusive department called House of Hoops. It will feature elite athletic apparel and footwear.