Consumer Electronics

The end of a retail icon is always big news in commercial real estate, and it’s particularly relevant when the brand in question is closing more than 4,000 stores around the country.

New York -- High-end home appliances and outfitting retailer Pirch will open its first store in the Northeast, at Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, on March 28.  

The 20,000-sq.-ft. store, the company’s eighth to date, allows shoppers to "test-drive" a carefully-curated collection of premier kitchen, bath, laundry, and outdoor living brands in a highly interactive and sensory environment.

Wasn’t Best Buy supposed to be out of business by now? Instead, the company has shown itself to be one of the retail industry’s most resilient operators, achieving growth in the face of intense competition and deteriorating demand for once hot product categories like tablets.

Not that long ago Best Buy was at risk of becoming irrelevant, a victim of showrooming and competitive forces, headed for a fate similar to RadioShack. Instead, as evidenced by its fourth quarter results, Best Buy is practically thriving against some still challenging circumstances.

Paramus, N.J. -- Ripco Real Estate has leased the former Fortunoff Building at 150 Route 17 northbound in Paramus, New Jersey, to Bob’s Discount Furniture.

Without a permanent tenant since July 2009, Ripco was hired in mid-October 2014 to lease the property.  Five months later, through the efforts of Ripco’s New Jersey team, lead by Ira Kerner and Alison Horbach, the landlord has executed a lease with the discount retailer.

Gainesville, Fla. -- The developer of Celebration Pointe, a 225-acre mixed-used regional development located in Gainesville, Florida announced that its work on the public infrastructure improvement phase of the $200 million project is on schedule. Celebration Pointe partner Ralph Conti made the announcement.

Target has been hit with a slew of negative reports recently, and now the retailer is trying to do something positive for its image by making its return policy more shopper-friendly.

Target Corp. announced an enhanced return policy Wednesday covering all of the retailer’s 32 owned and exclusive brands, which extends the return window to one year from the date of purchase. The retailer also rolled out a one-year return guarantee for guests using Target’s baby, college or wedding gift registry.

Woodbury, N.Y. -- DJM Real Estate, a division of Gordon Brothers Group, has been retained by RadioShack Corporation to handle the disposition of seven owned industrial properties. These properties are located in Texas, California, Iowa and North Carolina.

DJM will be offering the properties for immediate sale, and can be purchased individually or in any combination, subject to U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval.

Columbus, Ohio - Easton Town Center, a 1.7 million-sq.-ft. “New Urban” shopping center, has announced that 13 new tenants have signed lease agreements to be included in the shopping center’s new 500,000-sq.-ft. north district, Easton Gateway. The announcement was made by Easton Town Center co-developers Steiner + Associates and The Georgetown Company.