Mass Merchant

Los Angeles -- Westwood Financial Corp. appointed Jeanne Lazar as CFO. Lazar joins the company with more than 20 years of diverse commercial real estate finance experience. As CFO, Lazar will oversee all finance and accounting functions, including portfolio performance review and the development of financial and operational strategies.

“I’m honored to join Westwood Financial Corp. and look forward to working with the team to further the company’s goals to grow and expand in the grocery-anchored retail space,” said Lazar.

Retail industry sales will grow an estimated 3.1% in 2016, outpacing the 10 year industry average, as economic headwinds diminish, according to a forecast released by the National Retail Federation.

The NRF sales forecast of 3.1% excludes automobiles, gas stations and restaurants and exceeds the 10 year growth rate of 2.7%. Non-store retail sales are forecast to growth between 6% and 9%.

Tractor Supply Company continues its rapid expansion, with the grand opening of its 1,500th store, on Feb. 13, in Odessa, Texas.

The retailer opened a total of 114 stores in 2015, and expects to open between 115 and 120 locations in 2016. Tractor Supply stores are located primarily in towns outlying major metropolitan markets and in rural communities.

Cross Roads, Texas -- Shop Companies Investment Sales announced the sale of Crossroads Crossing a 14,680 sq. ft. shopping center located in Cross Roads, Texas.

Crossroads Crossing at the time of closing was 100% leased. The tenant mix includes: Domino’s, State Farm, January’s Salon, Cornerstone Dental and Villa Grande Mexican Restaurant among others. Just east of a newly opened Wal-Mart Supercenter.

One of the major components of J.C. Penney's transformation strategy is getting a boost this week when the retailer launches its new Belle + Sky collection aimed at millennials.

Minneapolis -- Mid-America Real Estate announced five new retail leases recently signed on behalf of retailers. Mid-America Tenant Representation team represented the tenants in the following transactions, listed below in order of transaction size.

St. Louis Park, Minnesota (Hennepin County) – J. Crew Factory signed a 6,500 sq. ft. lease at Shoppes at Knollwood located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. The 456,554-sq.-ft. center is anchored by Kohl’s and Nordstrom Rack.

Strength in the furniture and mattress category during the fourth quarter wasn’t enough to help Conn’s avert same-store sales decline with each of the company’s other merchandise classifications reporting weakness.

Conn’s said its total sales for January increased 7.9% to $101 million and for the three months ended Jan. 31, sales increased 7.4% to $376.5 million. The gains were the result on news stores as same stores sales at the specialty retailer of furniture, mattresses, home appliances and consumer electronics declined 2.3%.

Consumers are generally willing to use mobile apps to assist with grocery shopping, and there is one retailer whose app is the clear favorite.

According to a new study from Blackhawk Engagement Solutions,’ “How Grocery Shoppers Shop: Changing Trends in Grocery Shopping,” the top used grocery app among U.S. consumers by a wide margin is Amazon (71%). This is followed by grocery store apps (28%), Walmart (26%) and Target (25%). Third-party savings apps are not used much, with use in the low single digits for the grocery channel.