Retail

Dallas — Texas Family Fitness has leased space for a 21,367-sq.-ft. fitness center in The Colony, a Cypress Equities development that currently houses Aaron’s and Big Lots!. The fitness center plans to open in first quarter 2014.

The new center will mark the seventh Dallas-Fort Worth location for Texas Family Fitness. Retail Realty represented both the fitness center and the landlord in the transaction.

Blue Nile, a leading online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry, experienced its sixth consecutive quarter of double digit growth.

Net sales increased 10.1% to $98.9 million for the third quarter, compared to $89.8 million for the year-ago quarter.

New York -- The Container Store on Friday, Nov. 1, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol “TCS.” Expectations were high: On Thursday, the retailer set its IPO price at $18 per share, higher than the originally-expected range of $14 to $16 per share.

The company is offering all 12.5 million shares of common stock, with an additional 1.9 million shares 30-day purchase option for the underwriters.

Ask six senior merchandising executives from Walmart and Sam’s Club what keeps them up at night and be prepared for an interesting collection of answers relating to key competitors and assorted challenges.

That’s what Scott Huff, SVP/GMM of consumable at Walmart did this week during a panel discussion with six Walmart and Sam’s Club VP/DMMs during the Emerging Trends in Retail Conference organized by the Center for Retailing Excellence in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

Tucson, Ariz. — Mama’s Hawaiian Bar-B-Cue has signed a lease for a 2,000-sq.-ft. restaurant in Cortaro Plaza in Tucson, Ariz. The new location, the third for the young chain, is expected to open in mid-January 2014. The first two locations are near the University of Arizona and in Sahuarita, Ariz., a Tucson suburb.

Commercial Retail Advisors represented both the landlord, Cortaro Investments and the tenant, Mama’s Family Restaurants in the lease transaction.

Columbus, Ohio – Lane Bryant opened four new stores on Nov. 1. The stores are located at University Mall in Carbondale, Ill., and Bey Lea Plaza in Toms River, N.J.

The retailer also opens two refreshed stores on Nov. 1, at Pavilion Center in Dallas and Las Palmas Marketplace Shopping Center location in El Paso, Texas.

Gander Mountain has promoted Mike Owens to the position of president and COO. Owens was the company’s EVP and COO since joining in 2009.
 
“This is an exciting time for Gander Mountain, and we are very optimistic about our future,” said chairman of the board and CEO David Pratt, who has overseen a sizeable expansion in the past 18 months. “In Mike we have a true leader in driving further growth and success for Gander Mountain across our network of stores. I offer my personal congratulations to Mike on a well-deserved promotion.”

Lakeland, Fla. -- Publix reported net earnings for the third quarter fell 2.3% to $359.9 million, compared to $368.4 million in the year ago period.

Sales for the third quarter were $7 billion, up 5.6% from last year’s $6.7 billion. Same-store sales rose 4.1%.