Department Store

Retailers should be cheered by the latest forecast from the National Retail Federation.    With increases in consumer spending expected to remain solid during the remainder of the year, the NRF on Tuesday upped its forecast for retail sales in 2016 to 3.4%, from the 3.1% forecast earlier.    Online and other non-store sales, which are included in the overall figure, are expected to increase 7% to 10% year-over-year rather than the 6% to 9% forecast earlier.  

More and more retailers are looking to make their stores more than just destinations to shop.   In a trend that is gaining increased momentum, retailers across the board are adding bars and eateries to their stores, USA Today reported.   

CBL & Associates announced it has completed a $66.5 million sale of two malls in Michigan — The Lakes in Muskegon and the Fashion Square Mall in Saginaw. The identity of the buyer was not disclosed.   CBL president and CEO Stephen Lebovitz said the Michigan sales were part of a long-term plan to move to a portfolio of higher quality, higher-growth portfolios.   

The Dallas area is getting its sixth Nordstrom Rack store.   Nordstrom said it will open a Nordstrom Rack at The Centre at Preston Ridge in Frisco, Texas. The approximately 33,000-sq.-ft. store is scheduled to open in fall 2017. The property is owned by Brixmor Property Group.  

The recent demolition of the Miss Jackson’s anchor store at Utica Square in Tulsa, a fixture in that town’s retail scene for more than 100 years, was a stark Heartland example of the changing face of retail. But mall owners and managers in Oklahoma’s second-largest city feel poised to enter the new era, according to a report in Tulsa World.  

Some three years after he returned to save J.C. Penney, industry veteran Myron E. (Mike) Ullman will retire from the company on Aug. 1.    Ullman is passing the reins of chairman of Penney’s board of directors to current CEO Marvin R. Ellison. The succession is in accordance with a transition plan the company outlined in 2014.  

Marla and Barry Beck, Founders of Bluemercury, open 100th store (Photo: Business Wire)   Bluemercury is testing a larger format space.    The specialty beauty products and spa retailer announced the opening of its 100th store, in Savannah, Georgia.     

A brand known for its low, low prices and high volume has opened its fifth U.S. store.   Primark has opened at PREIT’s Willow Grove Park Mall in the Philadelphia suburb of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. This is the second Primark location in the Philadelphia region. The store occupies 58,300 sq. ft. of space previously occupied by Sears on the second and third floors of the southwest side of the mall.  It features 59 fitting rooms and 47 registers, recharge areas, as well as a fashion "trend room.”