Department Store

North Plainfield, Manahawkin, N.J. — The Stafford Park shopping center in Manahawkin, N.J. has named Levin Management as its exclusive leasing agent. The 350-acre mixed-use redevelopment project includes 400,000 sq. ft. of retail space, including anchor tenants Costco and Target. The site has received approval to add another 195,000 sq. ft. The new retail space includes several pad sites.

The retail industry will lose an estimated $8.76 billion to return fraud this year, and $3.39 billion during the holiday season alone, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2013 Return Fraud Survey. Overall, 5.8% of holiday returns are fraudulent, up slightly from 4.6% last year.

Whitehouse, Ohio — Devonshire REIT has announced the closing of its acquisition of the Great Lakes Plaza shopping center in Mentor, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Michaels and hhgregg co-anchor the center, which is 100% leased.

Devonshire bought the 81,349-sq.-ft. center from Simon Property Group for $8 million. Goldman Sachs Mortgage Company provided financing.

Houston -- Simon Property Group announced today that four new, high-end retailers, Rolex, Tod's, Trina Turk and Tourbillon, will be added to the retail mix at The Galleria shopping center in Houston. Gucci, Tory Burch, Zara, Sephora and Club Monaco will also execute lease renewals and expansions in 2014. In addition, Chanel has renewed its lease and will be renovating the boutique.

Details of 2014 activity at The Galleria in Houston include:

Nashville, Tenn. – Genesco’s net earnings fell 34% to $27.7 million, from $42.1 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2013 for Genesco. The company also reported a slight increase in net sales, to $666.3 million from $664.4 million, during the same period.

Wilmington, N.C. — Dick’s Sporting Goods and Marshalls will anchor Phase II of the 203,000-sq.-ft. Mayfaire Community Center in the master-planned 400-acre mixed-use community of Mayfaire in Wilmington, N.C. Harris Teeter anchors Phase I of the center.

Sears Holdings' plan to spin off Lands' End may have gotten all the attention on Friday, but the retailer’s former hometown and outlet stores division shared results showing how it has fared after receiving similar treatment a year earlier.

Los Angeles — Retail rents in the world’s most expensive markets will rise further in 2014 due to a shortage of available prime locations combined with a lack of new development, according to CBRE Group’s third quarter report on the world’s prime global retail markets.

Hong Kong (US$4,333 per sq. ft.) remains the world’s most expensive retail market by a substantial margin. Hong Kong houses the highest representation of luxury retailers among all global cities. With a healthy tourist market and a lack of available space.