Department Store

Kendall, Fla. — Venetian Nail Spa has opened its 34th nationwide location at Kendall Village Center in Kendall, Florida. The 2,950-sq. ft. location between Lane Bryant and Famous Footwear brings the center’s occupancy rate to 99%.

Berkowitz Development Group represented the landlord, Kendall Village Associates, and completed the lease for the new tenant.

Minneapolis – Best Buy Inc. is reportedly considering selling off its Chinese business or finding a partner to help operate it. According to the Wall Street Journal, Best Buy is working with Bank of America Merrill Lynch to examine its options in China.

Former Walmart CEO Lee Scott is among four new members of board of directors at Yahoo, a company whose CEO Marissa Mayer serves on the Walmart board.

Unlike most consumers, the retail industry doesn’t take a holiday in the summer. As we head into July, three very different retail companies are very much in the news. One has the industry all abuzz over who will be its next chief, while another has launched a pioneering employee initiative. And the newly appointed chief of the third wants to turn a cult L.A. brand into a global powerhouse. I’m fascinated by all three:

•  Target: At press time, there is no clear front-runner to replace ousted CEO Gregg Steinhafel.

Sausalito, Calif. - Retailers dominated a list of the worst companies in the U.S. to work, taking eight of the top 11 spots. According to a report from corporate review site Glassdoor.com, Books-A-Million is the worst company to work for in the U.S., with common employee complaints including low pay, high stress and limited promotion opportunities.

Duluth, Minn. – Specialty young women’s apparel store Maurices plans to open 15 new stores, including seven grand openings and eight reopenings, through the middle of July. The new stores include:

Grand Openings:
June 27: Lufkin, Texas at Lufkin Mall and Greensburg, Indiana, at Greensburg Crossing.
July 4: Aurora, Colorado, at The Gardens on Havana.
July 5: Hoffman Estates, Illinois, at Poplar Creek Crossing.

Intense price competition during back-to-school season is nothing new, but the competition now occurs on the shifting sands of an increasingly dynamic online world.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. reportedly experienced difficulties in areas including product mix and corporate creativity under ousted CEO Gregg Steinhafel. According to the Wall Street Journal, these difficulties preceded any problems relating to Target’s fall 2013 data breach or expansion into Canada and helped lead to Steinhafel’s essentially forced resignation.