Mass Merchant

Woodbury, N.Y. -- SoulCycle has taken 3,000 sq. ft. of new space at the expanding Woodbury Common Shopping Center in Woodbury on Long Island, said Charter Realty & Development Corp., who represented SoulCycle.

Owned and managed by Kabro Associates, the 85,000-sq.-ft. Woodbury Common is undergoing a 30,000-sq.-ft. expansion that will add parking, amenities and new facades.

Fresh Market will take 20,000 sq. ft. of the new space.

WAYNE, N.J. — Lingering cold weather and soft sales in its electronics and entertainment categories caused Toys”R”Us’ net and comparable store sales for first quarter ended May 4 to dip. 

The company reported net sales of $2.4 billion, a decrease of nearly 8% from $2.6 billion for the quarter a year ago. The decline in net sales for the quarter was primarily attributable to a decrease in comparable store net sales, as well as a foreign currency translation impact of $67 million. 

Dallas -- Cypress Equities Real Estate Investment Management has announced the acquisition of Lloyd Center in Portland, Ore. The enclosed, three-level 1,478,000-sq.-ft. regional shopping center is located near downtown close to the Convention Center, Rose Garden Arena and Memorial Coliseum.

New York -- Foot Locker has received approval from the Federal Cartel Office in Germany to complete its acquisition of Runners Point Warenhandelsgesellschaft mbH (RPG), initially announced in May 2013. RPG is majority owned by private equity group Hannover Finanz and operates more than 200 specialty athletic retail stores in Germany, Austria, The Netherlands and Switzerland under various banners, as well as an e-commerce site.

The transaction, valued at roughly $94 million, is expected to close early next month.

Overall economic growth in Europe is slower than in the U.S., but the opposite is true when it comes to e-commerce sales, according to figures published by Internet Retailer.
 
U.S. e-commerce sales grew 15.9% to $225.54 billion in 2012 from $194.61 billion the prior year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce while the Centre for Retail Research in the U.K. said European e-commerce sales increased 16.6% to $302.2 billion from 260.4 billion.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in May 2012 vs. May 2013 and noticed some common overall trends across top retail chains. While looking at the data in May 2012 compared to May 2013, we see interesting changes that came from Toys "R" Us. Their circular suggests a switch in advertising strategy. Their ad blocks per page decreased 10% while ad blocks per circular increased 79.1%. Also, the total number of circular pages increased by 44.4%.

Calabasas, Calif. -- Broader regional economic growth and improved consumer and retailer finances bode well for retail real estate investments in well-located properties, according to “The Retail Outlook” from Marcus & Millichap Research Services’ second quarter 2013 mid-year outlook for the national retail market and U.S. economy.

Toronto -- Canada’s second-biggest supermarket operator has acquired Safeway’s Canadian portfolio of stores in a $5.7 billion deal that pulls the Pleasanton, Calif., chain completely out of the country.

Sobeys, a unit of Empire Co. Lt., has acquired 213 grocery stores, 62 fuel stations, 10 liquor stores, 12 manufacturing facilities and four DCs, leaving Safeway with 1,400 stores in the U.S. after the deal.