Retail

Washington, D.C. – Spurred by warmer spring weather, U.S. retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, increased 0.8% adjusted month-to-month in March and 1.6% unadjusted year-over-year, according to estimates from the National Retail Federation (NRF).

Dallas — SRS Real Estate Partners has signed John topping and Robert Drake to its Southeast Investment Sales Team.

Phoenix — Leslie’s Poolmart has announced plans to open 22 retail locations across the country on April 11. The new stores will open in these cities:

• Gilbert and Tucson, Ariz.
• Anaheim, Corona, Costa Mesa, Menifee, Riverside and Sylmar, Calif.
• Bradenton, Clearwater and Punta Gorda, Fla.
• Marietta and Snellville, Ga.
• Mishawaka, Ind.
• Houma and Lake Charles, La.
• Mooresville, N.C.
• Miamisburg, Ohio
• Lancaster, Pa.

San Francisco -- Levi Strauss & Co. has named former Walmart executive Marc Rosen as executive VP and president of global e-commerce, effective May 5.

Rosen was most recently senior VP of global e-commerce at Walmart, where he was responsible for designing, building, operating and expanding Walmart.com. He also served as senior VP of information systems, with responsibility for Walmart’s global merchandising, supply chain and store systems

Richmond, Va. — Divaris Real Estate has announced the signing of two retail leases in the greater Richmond suburb of Midlothian.

Tex-Mex restaurant Chuy’s has leased 7,449 sq. ft. in the Village at Swift Creek in Midlothian. The Richmond office of DRE represented the landlord, Swift Creek Associates. This will be Chuy’s second Richmond location. Chuy’s will join Guitar Center, Babies “R” Us, TGIF, Red Lobster and Cracker Barrel in the development.

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- HSN has recognized the ExactTarget Marketing Cloud from Salesforce.com as its “Strategic Digital Alliance” partner for the year for transforming the company’s digital marketing program. HSN awards its Strategic Digital Alliance award to one company annually that delivers innovative business ideas and strategies with the HSN digital team.

Pittsburgh – Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. opens three new stores on April 25. The stores are located in Lawton, Okla., Alabaster, Ala., and Tampa. Fla.

The Lawton store will be located at Lawton Town Center, while the Alabaster store will be located at Colonial Promenade Alabaster and the Tampa store will be located at Westshore Plaza. As of April 25, Dick’s will operate 566 stores in the U.S., including 11 in Alabama, 27 in Florida and eight in Oklahoma.

Virginia Beach, Va. — Divaris Real Estate has announced four leases totaling 29,099 sq. ft. of retail space in the Hampton roads area of Virginia.

PetSmart has taken 14,286 sq. ft. at Peninsula town Center in Hampton. As the chain’s exclusive representative in Virginia, the Richmond office of DRE represented PetSmart in the negotiations.

Ulta has signed a lease for 10,500 sq. ft. in Crossways Shopping Center in Chesapeake. DRE’s Virginia Beach office represented the landlord, JLP-Chesapeake in the transaction.