Retail

Armond, N.Y. -- First quarter online shopping in 2013 grew more than 20% over the same period last year, and more than five times in-store sales growth, helping drive up department store and home goods purchases, according to the IBM Online Retail Index.  
 
The IBM Index comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau report which announced in-store sales for the January through March 2013 period were up 3.7%.

The IBM Online Retail Index also found:

Miami -- Jones Lang LaSalle announced it has closed the sale of Kendall Corners on behalf of joint owners Weingarten Realty Investors and a subsidiary of TIAA-CREF.

Miami-based Orion Ventures purchased the 96,515-sq.-ft. shopping center.

ATLANTA — Aaron's, a lease-to-own retailer specializing in the sales and lease ownership of residential furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories, has named David L. Buck as its new COO.

The company’s current COO, Ken Butler, 60, will retire May 1, after 39 years. Butler will also resign from the board of directors.

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners and Cresa announced an agreement to form a new company to perform lease administration services for retail, office and industrial clients.

The new company will be known as SRS-Cresa Lease Administration, and will deliver a spectrum of lease administration services including critical date management, CAM audits, occupancy cost reconciliations, and full portfolio lease administration services out of currently established offices in Dallas and in Chicago.

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The NACDS Annual Meeting concluded with the board of directors dinner and the annual presentation of the industry’s lifetime achievement awards.

Renamed the Sheldon W. Fantle Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996 in honor of People’s Drug Stores’ Bud Fantle, the award was originally established in 1989 to recognize exceptional accomplishments and contributions to the industry.

Receiving the award this year were Bob Loeffler, former CEO of H-E-B and past NACDS chairman, and Chain Drug Review editor David Pinto.

Washington, D.C. -- Douglas Development announced that it has purchased a new mixed-use property in Chinatown DC. The 10,000-sq.-ft. building includes three levels of office space and 4,000 sq. ft. of street-level retail.
     
Douglas Development acquired the property from Washington, D.C.-based law firm Wingfield & Ginsburg, which has since leased back all of the office space from Douglas Development.
      

PLANO, Texas — J.C. Penney is introducing the Bijoux Bar, a line of fine jewelry that features collections from Kenneth Jay Lane, Kara Ross, Lana Bramlette, Dominique Cohen, Doris Panos, Rodrigo Otazu and Diego Massimo. 

Rye Ridge, N.Y. -- The Charter Realty Group said that it has arranged its second transaction on behalf of SoulCycle for a 2,350-sq.-ft. space at Rye Ridge Shopping Center, located in Rye Brook, N.Y.  

Charter previously represented SoulCycle, an indoor fitness cycling center, in a 7,000-sq.-ft at One Fawcett Place in Greenwich, Conn.