Mass Merchant

The final shopping days of the holiday season are in full swing, and it is driving harried shoppers to open their wallets even wider.   The average spend per gift is up 37% over last year, and men are spending roughly 20% more than women on average, according to new data from Loop Commerce, which evaluated purchases made through its network of top retailers including Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and Coach, among others..   

When the Northern Lights Center in Anchorage, Alaska, was owned by folksy former governor Wally Hickel, things were good for Title Wave Books. The midtown neighborhood was in decline, rent was cheap, and husband-and-wife owners Julie Drake and Steve Lloyd were able to make a living from their low-margin inventory.  

Lidl has made bold moves this week in preparation of its upcoming United States launch.   The company has acquired the site of an industrial building in Philadelphia’s Port Richmond neighborhood, which could be the chain’s first location in Philadelphia, according to philly.com.   

Move over Sephora, fast-growing Ulta Beauty is about to give you some competition.   Ulta will open its first-ever outpost in Manhattan, on the city’s tony Upper East Side.     The retailer leased a 12,000-sq.ft. space on the ground floor of 184 E. 86th St., Commercial Observer reported, with Cushman & Wakefield brokering the deal with Ulta. A Sephora is located on the same block.   

The City of Brotherly Love is having a love affair with retail.    A new report from Philadelphia’s City Center District reveals that 45 national retailers have helped fuel a $1 billion investment in city real estate during the last five years.  

It would appear that news accounts of Amazon’s plans to opens thousands of grocery stores are greatly overblown — at least for the time being.     Amazon’s brick-and-mortar fledgling initiatives have been in the spotlight in recent weeks with the opening of its checkout-less convenience store, Amazon Go, in Seattle. Last week, some reports had the e-commerce giant planning to open 2,000 grocery stores.     

Retailers and restaurants in the United States won’t get any relief in 2017 in the battle to win customers.    That’s according to Fitch Ratings' Outlook report, which says that retailers will continue to face a competitive environment in 2017 as they navigate changing customer preferences.  

CBRE has acquired Cleveland-based Skye Group, a provider of project management, development, and tenant coordination services.    Skye is led by Bradley Sanders, who founded the firm in 2000. Its client list consists of prominent retail real estate investors including Simon, Howard Hughes, Westfield, LaSalle Investment Management, Vornado Realty Trust, New England Development, Ivanhoe Cambridge and Steiner & Associates, as well as brands such as Barneys New York.