Mass Merchant

By Victor Wulc, [email protected]

Hilton Head Island, S.C. -- Shelter Cove Towne Centre, an outdoor mall now under construction, has taken a bold step to engage the surrounding Hilton Head Island community — both residents and visitors. It has set up shop on a crowd-sourcing website called Popularise and asked Hilton Head residents to suggest tenants for the 290,000-sq.-ft. property.

DropShip Commerce, a provider of distributed supply chain management solutions to mid-market retailers, appointed of Scott Lemon as VP of technology.

Lemon will oversee the firm’s software as a service-based, on-demand platform to help retailers and manufacturers use the virtual supply chain to be more responsive to consumer demand in the age of e-commerce.

Cincinnati, Ohio -- Kimco Realty has sold Colerain Towne Centre, a 400,000-sq.-ft. Cincinnati power center, for $30 million, according to Mid-America Real Estate Corp.’s investment sales group, which represented Kimco in the transaction in cooperation with Anchor Associates. The buyer is a private real estate company.

Naples, Fla. -- Kite Realty Group Trust has begun work on a $10 million renovation of the 85,497-sq.-ft. Kings Lake Square in Naples, Fla.

The renovation will demolish the center’s Publix anchor and construct a new 45,000-sq.-ft. new Publix. Additional work includes renovated shop facades new sidewalks, a new parking lot, site lighting and landscaping.

Publix will close this month and reopen the new store next spring. All other tenants will remain open during the renovation.

Washington, D.C. -- A first-of-its-kind document could go a long way toward cementing the sustainability relationship between retailer tenants and their shopping center landlords.

Total U.S. Shopper Traffic in Retail Stores and Malls for June 2013

Shopper activity slightly decreased last month, thus returning to seasonal standards after May holidays. Retail foot traffic decreased 1.3% in June compared to May 2013, a slight departure from recently reported positive month-over-month retail trends. However, foot traffic for June 2013 was relatively flat compared to the same month in 2012 — with an increase of 0.3%.

Bridgewater, N.J. -- Women’s apparel retailer, New York & Company, has taken 7,440 sq. ft. in the Somerset Shopping Center in Bridgewater, N.J., according to Levin Management, the property’s leasing and managing agent.

The lease brings the 214,202-sq.-ft. center to full occupancy.