Consumer Electronics

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. — Mid-America Asset Management Inc. has announced new retail leases in four shopping centers in Chicago’s northwest suburbs.

Big Blue Swim School signed a lease for 10,075 sq. ft. at The Grove in Buffalo Grove, Ill. The School’s second location in the Chicago area, it is expected to open in November. Jewel Osco, Chase and American Mattress anchor the 117,367-sq.-ft. center. Mid-America represented the landlord in the transaction. NGKF represented the tenant.

Atlanta -- Severe winter weather hindered shopping activity in February, according to First Data Corp.'s SpendTrend report, which tracks same-store POS data by credit and debit cards, closed loop prepaid cards, EBT, and checks from the nearly four million retail locations serviced by First Data.

Consumer spending was also restrained by the termination of emergency unemployment insurance, a reduction in food stamp benefits and low-income growth, First Data said.

Tampa, Fla. — RMC Property Group has earned two exclusive leasing assignments on Florida’s southern West Coast.

First is Fountain Court, a 180,420-sq.-ft. community shopping center in Bradenton’s Highway 64 retail corridor near the beaches and Anna Maria Island. Anchor tenants include Bealls Department Store and Planet Fitness.

Los Angeles — Brixton Capital has acquired TownGate Center in Moreno Valley, Calif., for $41,971,000, a 6.9% cap rate, according to CBRE, which represented both the buyer and seller in the transaction. The seller was a partnership between Walton Street, a private equity firm, and Fritz Duda Co.

The CBRE marketing system distributed more than 460 offering memoranda to investors and brokers. The managed bid offer process generated more than nine offers. The purchase price mirrored CBRE’s pricing guidance to the seller.

Inclement weather has hurt some retailers’ quarterly sales results, but it has been no match for Dick’s Sporting Goods. The company’s fourth-quarter results exceeded the upper end of guidance range it provided in its third quarter press release.

New York -- Dick’s Sporting Goods reported consolidated net income of $138.6 million, for the 13-week period ended Feb. 1. Results also exceeded the company’s performance in last year’s fourth quarter, which had an additional week. For the 14-week period ended Feb. 2, 2013, the company reported consolidated net income of $129.7 million.

Seattle – Amazon.com is reportedly planning to pilot the sale of goods created by 3-D printers. According to the Cincinnati Business Journal, Amazon is partnering with Cincinnati area-based startup 3DLT and four other companies to launch a pilot where Amazon would directly sell 3-D printed products through its website.

The buzz and hype surrounding 3D printing can make it hard to separate fact from fiction, but one thing is for sure: 3D printing has the potential to transform shopper expectations and retail supply chains.