Apparel

As thousands of retailers and shopping center owners and managers prepare to descend on Las Vegas for the International Council of Shopping Centers’ 2012 RECon conference May 22-25, we thought it appropriate to talk with a retail real estate expert about not only the state of the industry, but also what to expect from this year’s show. 

Senior editor Katherine Field talked with Mitchel S. Friedman, senior VP of New York City-based RCS Real Estate Advisors, to gain his insights about the show and the industry as a whole.

New York City -- Simon Property Group is set to sell its newly bought Prime Outlets retail shops in Jeffersonville, Ohio, as part of a deal with federal regulators that required it to sell one of two Ohio properties, the Dayton Business Journal reported.

Simon, which bought the 22-site outlet arm of Prime Outlets Acquisition Co. last year for $2.3 billion, was required to sell either the Jeffersonville site or Cincinnati Premium Outlets in Butler County amid concerns that it would gain an anti-competitive advantage in the market.

Projections calling for a low-to-mid single-digit comp increase at Target during May don’t sound overly aggressive, but when factoring in some of the economic headwinds and uncertainties facing the U.S. economy, the sales plan begins to sound more ambitious.

Consumers are dealing with higher fuel prices, food inflation and lingering unemployment. Where $4 a gallon gas prices are headed next is big unknown, but it is only May and historically prices increase during the summer. Ouch!

East Rutherford, N.J. -- Triple Five on Monday gave more information on its plans to transform the controversial and long-delayed Xanadu project in New Jersey’s Meadowlands Sports Complex, in East Rutherford, into what it promises will be “the world's largest and premier tourism, entertainment and retail destination, eventually reaching 7.5 million sq. ft.”

Fort Myers, Fla. -- Chico's FAS is building a new Performance Optimized Data (POD) center at its distribution and fulfillment facility in Winder, Ga.

POD technology, often referred to as, "data center in a box," employs modular pre-fabricated reinforced steel containers, approximately the size of a train freight car, to house and efficiently cool vital information technology hardware.

New York City -- SRS Real Estate Partners said that Panera Bread has leased 6,926 sq. ft. on the ground-floor and basement levels at 120 E. 86th Street in Manhattan.
      
The lease was arranged by way of a termination with the current tenant, Walgreens, and a new lease execution with Panera.

Wilkes-Barre, Pa. -- Metro Commercial announced that it has inked a new lease for Banana Republic Outlet at Arena Hub Plaza, located in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

The new, 7,380-sq.-ft. store is slated to open in fall 2011. Other tenants in the 524,000-sq.-ft. power center include Lowe’s, Best Buy and PetSmart.

Henderson, Nev. -- New York City-based Centro Properties Group said that Rhaposdielle will open in Henderson, Nev.
       
The new 12,544-sq.-ft. store will debut at Galleria Commons, which is owned by Centro.