Apparel

Nordstrom continues to expand its off-price format, with plans to open a Nordstrom Rack at The Marketplace at Braintree in Braintree, Massachusetts. The approximately 35,000-sq.-ft. store, leased from Seritage Growth Properties is scheduled to open in fall 2016.

Nordstrom Rack at The Marketplace at Braintree will join a diverse group of retailers including Ulta Beauty, Sports Authority, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond and PetSmart. The 351,282-sq.-ft. center is located south of downtown Boston and near main highways including I-93, I-95 and Route 3.

Redding, Calif. -- Rouse Properties announced it has significantly improved key operating metrics at Mt. Shasta Mall located in Redding, California, through execution of its leasing strategy with prominent national and regional retailers, as well cosmetic enhancements to the interior and exterior of the mall.

Children’s Place did the most shareholder friendly thing possible just days after it announced a slate of other shareholder friendly measures.

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.

I remember something a retailer once said to me more than 25 years ago, long before digital mattered. It’s still true today: If the product’s not right, nothing matters. If the product is right, everything matters. That everything now includes staying ahead of the consumer digitally. We’ve gone from a generation that saw technology as a skill to one that doesn’t see it at all — it’s so natural it’s become instinct. This shopper lives in a world where digital doesn’t just define shopping habits — it defines the way shoppers live.

At a time when many retailers are cutting back on store expansion, Soft Surroundings is doing just the opposite, growing its retail footprint with a prototype that brings its brand experience to life. The women’s lifestyle brand, founded in 1998 as a catalog retailer, opened its first store in 2005. But it’s only been in the past couple of years that Soft Surroundings, which also has a thriving online business, has made a big push into brick-and-mortar. (In summer 2013, private equity firm Brentwood Associates took a majority interest — 55% — in the firm.)

Retailers seeking to make the holiday return process as pleasant as possible need to offer a few specific features.

According to a new post-holiday study of 500 adult U.S. consumers from location-based mobile platform provider Retale, 24% of those surveyed stated that they are likely to return or exchange at least one of the presents that they received this holiday season.