Department Store

Los Angeles — Hong Kong is by far the world’s most expensive city for global retailers. Even so, prime rents in major global markets such as New York, Paris and London continue to break records, according to new research from global property advisor CBRE Group.

Seattle – Holiday markdowns and costs associated with growing its Nordstrom Rack outlet brand and planned entry into Canada had a negative impact on net earnings at Nordstrom Inc. during fourth quarter 2013. Fourth quarter net earnings slipped 6% compared to the same quarter the prior year, to $268 million from $284 million.

Net earnings for the full fiscal year remained almost flat, slightly rising to $735 million from $734 million. Both earnings figures fell short of Wall Street expectations.

New York -- G Asset Management, LLC ("GAM"), a private investment management firm, has made a proposal to acquire 51% of Barnes & Noble Inc., valuing the company at $22 per share, or about $1.3 billion. This is a 10% increase on the $20 per share offer G Asset made for 51% of Barnes & Noble in November 2013.

Chicago — Forever Yogurt and T’s Code, a women’s clothing boutique, have leased shops in Glen Town Center in Glenview, Ill. Forever Yogurt has taken 1,134 sq. ft., and T’s Code will occupy 1,789 sq. ft. CBRE represented the landlord, Bank of America Commercial Mortgage, in both leases.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. has opened two new Sears Hometown Stores. The stores are located in Longmont, Colo. and Wenatchee, Wash., and will celebrate their official grand openings Feb. 28-March 1.

The stores were the 15th and 16th Sears Hometown Stores to open in 2013. If a product is not available in-stores, Sears Hometown Store associates can order customers any product from the entire merchandise selection offered by Sears.

Paramus, N.J. — Vornado Realty Trust has announced an agreement to sell the 1.1 million-sq.-ft. Broadway Mall in Hicksville, Long Island, N.Y., for $94 million to an unknown buyer. The company purchased the mall in 2005 for $152.5 million.

In April 2012, the company announced its intention to reduce exposure to the enclosed mall business and to sell some of its other categories of retail shopping centers. This sale, Vornado’s last shopping center on Long Island, represents a continuation of that policy.

Walmart shareholders have gotten spoiled by some hefty dividend increases in recent years, but that won’t be the case in 2014 when the annual payout rises a meager 2%.

Walmart announced the dividend increase in conjunction with the release of uncharacteristically disappointing financial results. The company increased the annual payout to $1.92 from $1.88 last year, making the 2% increase the smallest amount of the past decade.