Department Store

The Oaks, a 39-year-old Macerich-owned property in Thousand Oaks, California, has been awarded the first BREEAM green standards certification for an in-use building in the U.S.   BRE America, a unit of the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM), bestowed the designation on the Macerich property at an awards event in London this week. BREEAM is the oldest sustainability assessment method for new construction, renovations, and in-use properties.  

Brixmor Property Group has purchased Arborland Center, a 404,000-sq.-ft. center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for $102 million. The center is anchored by Kroger and Nordstrom Rack and is situated between the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University.

Urban Outfitters Inc. ended its fiscal year more or less on target.    The retailer on Tuesday reported net income of $64.3 million, or 55 cents a share, just one cent shy of analysts’ estimates, and down from $72.9 million, or 61 cents a share, in the year ago period.   Total net sales rose 2% to $1.03 billion, matching Street forecasts.  

Brixmor Property Group has purchased Arborland Center, a 404,000-sq.-ft. center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for $102 million. The center is anchored by Kroger and Nordstrom Rack and is situated between the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University.  

New parents working at Nordstrom are about to get a break.   Starting May 1, the department store retailer will offer up to 12 weeks of fully paid leave to birth mothers, and up to six weeks of fully paid leave to other new parents, the Seattle Times reported.    Nordstrom’s current maternity leave policy is six weeks of disability paid at 60% for birth mothers.

Lands’ End has a new person at the top.   Jerome Griffith has officially taken the reins as CEO of the company, and also joined the board of directors. He succeeds Joseph Boitano and James Gooch, who have served as co-interim CEOs since September 2016, when CEO Federica Marchionni was forced out after less than two years amid an ongoing sales slump.  

CBL has sold Cobblestone Village, ad 96,891-sq.-ft. center in Palm Coast, Florida, to RCG Ventures, a privately funded real estate investment group. The selling price was not disclosed.   The Belk-anchored center is a quarter-mile from the Interstate 95 interchange and is adjacent to Lowe’s and Walmart. It was “highly sought after by a variety of institutional and private investors,” said John Crossman, president of Crossman & Company, which handled the sale on behalf of CBL.  

Changing consumer needs and an evolving retail marketplace contributed the U.S. apparel industry’s overall sales performance in 2016.   Specifically, apparel dollar sales across women, men, and children grew by 3% last year, reaching $218.7 billion, according to the NPD Group.