Apparel

Los Angeles -- CBRE Group announced that Andrew Turf, a high street luxury retail real estate expert, will join the company’s Retail Services team as senior VP. Turf will also act as tenant representative on the West Coast and beyond and collaborate with capital markets teams on a variety of real estate projects.

Macy’s lowered the ax on Wednesday, announcing major cost-cutting moves on the heels of holiday sales that were much worse than expected.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. -- Mid-America Asset Management announced that the firm recently secured three new retail leases on behalf of Orland Park Crossing located in Orland Park, Illinois. Orland Park Crossing is a 107,371-sq. ft. lifestyle center featuring tenants White House | Black Market, Talbots, Charles Schwab, Ann Taylor, Charming Charlie and more.

For the retailing industry, 2015 was another year of seismic shifts as merchants continued to keep pace with the evolving digital landscape. It was also a busy year of executive comings and goings. Here is my pick of industry executives — all new to their positions — to keep an eye on in 2016.

One trend that will likely become more prevalent in 2016 is visual search, the ability to click on an image of a product and obtain information or even make a purchase, without typing in any words.

Urban Outfitters and other select retailers are offering visual search capabilities, and the failed Amazon Fire smartphone essentially made the world into an Amazon showroom with an advanced virtual search tool.

Westfield Corporation established Westfield Labs in 2013 with the purpose of innovating the retail environment. And this year the company did just that with the opening of BESPOKE at Westfield San Francisco Centre. The 37,000-sq.-ft. space incorporates co-working, event and technology demo spaces all under one dome. With an eye for retail, and a heart for tech, Westfield wanted to create a place where fashion runway shows and hackathons could happen side by side.

Building customer loyalty is key for retailers and, while part of that is obviously offering desirable, high-quality products, consumers in today’s world want something more — they want to be a part of something larger than themselves - a community they can engage with.

Salt Lake City -- X Team International, an international alliance of retail real estate advisors, announced that partners Mountain West Retail and Investment, Dunbar Commercial and Endeavor Real Estate Group, completed three sale-leaseback transactions to Capview Partners for Melrose Family Fashions totaling 32,160 sq. ft. The Melrose Family Fashions stores included in the transaction are located in three Texas cities: Laredo, Odessa and Rio Grande City.