Department Store

Clarksville, Tenn. -- Youngstown, Ohio-based Cafaro Co. said that Ross Dress for Less will open a new store at Governor’s Square Mall, its first in the Clarksville, Tenn., area.

When it opens in the summer of 2013, the new store will occupy more than 31,000 sq. ft. next to Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Governor’s Square Mall comprises over one million sq. ft. of retail space and is anchored by Dillards, Belk, Sears, J.C. Penney, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Target, and Cinema Ten.

Miami -- Jones Lang LaSalle’s Capital Markets experts announced Tuesday the firm has closed the sale of Miracle Marketplace in Miami on behalf of AWE Talisman.  

Heitman purchased the power center, which is located in the Coral Way submarket. The 243,047-sq.-ft., seven-story Class A vertical retail property is located along the Miracle Mile/Coral Way and is anchored by Nordstrom Rack, Ben Bath & Beyond, Marshalls, LA Fitness, PetSmart, DSW Shoe Warehouse and Ulta.

New York -- Abercrombie & Fitch wants to turn the building that once housed the Beatles’ Apple Records into one of its namesake children’s stores, Bloomberg News reported.  

The building is where the famed singing group performed together for the last time, in 1969. The performance, which occurred on the roof, was filmed for the movie “Let It Be.” The Westminster borough council is due to vote on the proposal next week.

Hyannis, Mass. -- Boston-based The Wilder Cos. said Tuesday that, as part of its major remerchandising of Southwind Plaza shopping center in Hyannis, Mass., Kohl’s and Whole Foods Market will be opening new stores at the Cape Cod property.

Kohl’s will begin construction of a nearly 55,000-sq.-ft. space in February with an opening planned for early October.  

Also joining the center with its first Cape location is Whole Foods Market, which will open a 26,000-sq.-ft. store in early 2014.
     

Miami -- Swire Properties and Bal Harbour Shops announced Wednesday they have agreed to an equity partnership to jointly develop the retail component of Brickell City Centre, currently under construction in the Brickell financial district of downtown Miami.

The 2.9 million-sq.-ft. Brickell City Centre will include 500,000 sq. ft. of high-end retail along with condominiums and hotel slated for completion in latter 2015.
 

Birmingham, Ala. -- Bayer Properties said Tuesday that Scott Laslo has joined the company as VP asset management. 

Laslo more recently served as VP/general manager and VP for Forest City Enterprises. His asset management role at Bayer will focus on value creation and oversight of the company’s growing portfolio of over 10 million sq. ft.
 

New York -- RKF said WeNew York -- RKF said Wednesday it has arranged a 1,200-sq.-ft. lease with shoe retailer CHUCKiES at 1052 Lexington Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

This will become CHUCKiES’ third location in Manhattan, all on the Upper East Side. The new store will sit between 74th and 75th Streets along the western side of Lexington Avenue.
 
The new CHUCKiES will occupy 800 sq. ft. on ground floor of the building, as well as 400 sq. ft. of space in the basement.

New York  -- For the third consecutive year,  Subway came out on top on BrandIndex’s annual ranking of the most buzzed about U.S. brands. The BrandIndex Buzz Rankings compares “Buzz” scores for nearly 1,100 brands across 41 categories  to reveal the brands with the most positive Buzz in 2012.  

Subway had a Buzz score of 40.3. Online giant  Amazon came in at number two for the second year in a row, with a score of  36.8  Lowe’s was fifth, with a score of 32.7.