Mass Merchant

YONKERS, N.Y. — Retailers that cater to lower-income and higher-income consumers should be pleased with the most recent Consumer Reports Index, as those two groups showed the greatest improvement in consumer sentiment.

The Consumer Reports Index, an overall measure of Americans' personal financial health, saw a sharp improvement in its consumer sentiment measure, which jumped to its highest level since October 2008.

Allegations of worker abuse prompted Walmart to suspend a small seafood supplier earlier this week pending the outcome of an investigation, according to a Reuters report.

Greenwich, Conn. -- Private investment firm Starwood Capital Group announced that an affiliate of Starwood has completed its acquisition of a 90% majority interest in seven U.S. shopping centers from the Westfield Group.

Westfield retained a 10% minority interest in the portfolio.

Starwood also announced that it has formed a new subsidiary, Starwood Retail Partners, to be based in Chicago, to oversee the management of the newly acquired assets and has named Scott Wolstein, co-founder of DDR, as its CEO. 

Moorestown, N.J. -- Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust said that video game retailer Play N Trade has opened a 1,712-sq.-ft. store at Moorestown Mall, located in Moorestown, N.J.

Moorestown Mall is a 1 million-sq.-ft. enclosed regional shopping mall anchored by Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, Sears and Boscov’s.
 

Total U.S. shopper traffic in retail stores and malls for June 2012

Summer retail is heating up. June brought high temperatures and a steady stream of shoppers to stores across the nation. Retail foot traffic in June increased 5.2% compared with the previous month and 7% over the same period last year.

New York -- Analysts expected 18 top retail chains to report a modest gains in June, as high unemployment and falling consumer confidence have taken a toll on spending.

Among the department store retailers reporting June same-store results so far, the results were largely mixed. Macy’s was among the retailers reporting sales that fell short of estimates. Same-store sales rose 1.2% in June, missing Wall Street’s projected 1.9% gain.

Willow Grove, Pa. -- Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust said that Francesca’s Collections has opened a 1,046-sq.-ft. store at Willow Grove Park, located in Willow Grove, Pa.

Laila Rowe is slated to opena 1,181-sq.-ft. store in September.

Fredericksburg, Va. -- Youngstown, Ohio-based Cafaro Co. said that Ten Thousand Villages will open a new trade fair location at The Village at Towne Centre, near Fredericksburg, Va.

The 2,700-sq.-ft. store is located between Books-A-Million and Aveda Tulips SalonSpa, and is slated to open in September.

The Village at Towne Centre is the outdoor shopping district of Spotsylvania Towne Centre, a 1.7 million-sq.-ft. complex offering more than 120 department stores, specialty shops, restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues.