Discount Store

The mainstreaming of Manhattan’s once seedy Alphabet City continues apace with the promised arrival of Target on 14th Street and Avenue A.   RKF announced it has concluded a deal for Target to lease 27,000 sq. ft. in one of two seven-story buildings being constructed by Extell Development Company at this location. The mass retailer will occupy 17,700 sq. ft. in the lower level and 9,649 sq. ft. on the ground floor.  

Mid-America Real Estate reported it has arranged the sale of the Fairlane Meadows Shopping Center in Dearborn, Michigan, to Time Equities for $20.6 million. The seller was Ramco-Gershenson Property Trust.   The 157,225-sq.-ft. center is situated within a residential development of the same name. The store roster includes Best Buy, Citi Trends, David’s Bridal, Five Below, and Dollar Tree. It is shadow-anchored by Target and Burlington Coat Factory.  

L Brands, operator of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, posted a better-than-expected 3% increase in same-store sales for September.      The retailer’s results were fueled by a 9% increase in comp sales at its Bath & Body Works brand. L Brands’ net sales rose 6% to $919.9 million in September.   The handful of other retailers who still report same-store sales did not fare so well.  

American & Interstate Signcrafters, a full service sign manufacturing and project management company, has hired industry veteran Mike Morelli. He manages national, and international, sign programs and oversees business development in the southeastern United States   Morelli brings to the growing American & Interstate Signcrafters team years of experience leading retail, fashion, hospitality, and QSR sign and branding programs.   

Construction is underway at a planned 185,000-sq.-ft. center that will bring a top-level roster of value retailers to the western Kentucky town of Hopkinsville. Thompson Thrift is the developer.   Hopkinsville Town Center, located just north of Clarksville on the Tennessee border, will count Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx, Ross Dress for Less, Ulta, Burke’s Outlet, Hibbett Sporting Goods, and Rack Room Shoes among its tenants when it opens in late 2017 or early 2018.  

Wal-Mart Stores and Target Corp. stand at very different junctures, according to new report from Moody's Investors Service.    Walmart is starting to reap more discernible rewards as it adapts more quickly to a rapidly-changing consumer landscape -- and with fewer missteps -- than Target has managed, according to the report, "Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Target Corporation: Walmart Is Gaining Momentum, While Target Is Still Clawing Back Lost Ground."  

Don’t believe the rumors. Kmart is not going out of business.   That’s according to Eddie Lampert, the beleaguered  CEO of Kmart parent company Sears Holdings Corp.  

In line with Staples, more retailers are choosing to turkey over Thanksgiving Day sales.    Retailers across a variety of categories — from club stores and discount chains to department stores — are letting “their employees enjoy the holiday with their families instead of staffing the cash registers” on Thanksgiving, according to a story in the Sun Herald.