Mass Merchant

New York -- Shaky consumer confidence and increased efficiencies among retailers may put a damper on retailers’ holiday hiring plans, according to global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

In its annual holiday hiring forecast, Challenger estimated that seasonal job gains will not see a significant decline from last year’s robust numbers, but they are likely to at best match the level of hiring that occurred in October, November, and December 2012.

Imagine you are at in a major department store’s corporate headquarters as your team prepares numbers for the upcoming holiday season. The frenetic pace of retail holiday hiring can frazzle even the most experienced manager, and diligently checking every box in the employee onboarding process can seem laughably optimistic in the rush to find, hire and get as many employees as possible going in a matter of days.

Philadelphia — Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has completed the sales of two power center properties. In two separate transactions, PREIT sold Christiana Center in Newark, Del., and Commons at Magnolia in Florence, S.C. for $87.3 million. The proceeds represent a blended cap rate of 6.8%. Gains on the sales totaled approximately $45.4 million.

In connection with these transactions, the buyer assumed the $49.2 million mortgage loan secured by Christiana Center.

Dallas — A fund managed by Cypress Equities has acquired Promenade Tannehill in Bessemer, Ala., a suburb of Birmingham.

Tannehill is a 347,151-sq.-ft. regional power center that opened in 2008 and presently houses more than 30 retailers, including Target, Publix, J.C. Penney, Michaels, PetSmart, Premiere Cinemas, Charming Charlie, Anna’s Linens and Ross Dress For Less.

Indianapolis — Simon Property Group and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers have announced that construction has begun on Charlotte Premium Outlets. The first phase of the planned 400,000-sq.-ft. center will open in the summer of 2014. The project is a 50/50 joint venture between Simon and Tanger.

Charlotte Premium Outlets will feature Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th and more than 90 other outlet stores.

Tanger is providing site development and construction supervision to the venture. Simon is providing management services and marketing.

Meriden, Conn. — A TJX Marshall’s store has leased a 23,137-sq.-ft. space at the Meriden Mall in Meriden, Conn. Charter Realty and Development represented the TJX Company in the transaction. Charter Realty is TJX’s exclusive broker for Connecticut, and this is the 25th lease TJX lease the company has arranged.

Anchored by Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Macy’s, the 894,435-sq.-ft. mall, owned by The Westfield Group, has 142 stores and ranks as the seventh largest mall in Connecticut.

Norton, Va. — Rivercrest Realty Associates has acquired the 81,297-sq.-ft. Norton Commons shopping center in Norton, Va., for $6,910,000.

Divaris Real Estate represented the seller, General Electric Credit Equities, in the transaction. At the time of the sale, the center, anchored by Burke’s Outlet, was 98% occupied.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. reportedly plans to hire 70,000 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season, about 20% less than the 88,000 seasonal workers it hired for last year’s holiday season.

According to the Associated Press, Target wants to give full-time employees more opportunity to take on extra holiday hours. The retailer also wants to better anticipate and schedule for fluctuations in holiday traffic. About one-third of seasonal employees brought on last year obtained full-time jobs at Target.