News

Miracle Mile Shops’ new general manager Jerry Irwin talks strategy

Jerry Irwin signed on as general manager of Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in September 2013. He oversees all center operations, including design, development, management, construction and strategic direction.

Miracle Mile Shops spans 475,000 sq. ft. and boasts 170 stores. Recently, CSA asked Irwin about his plans for the center.

How do you conceive of your role at Miracle Mile Shops?

Mixed-use project Celebration Pointe is set to move forward

For Gainesville, Fla.-area residents, these are exciting times. Celebration Pointe, one of the more distinctive mixed-use projects in the state of Florida, is about to hit a significant milestone: The initial phase of the ambitious, $170 million development broke ground in April with site preparation and significant public infrastructure upgrades.

When the International Council of Shopping Centers opens the doors of the Las Vegas Convention Center on May 18 to shopping center attendees from around the globe, it will unveil a lineup of newly built and redeveloped properties ripe for deal-making.

On the following pages, Chain Store Age highlights five projects that will be on display at RECon 2014.

Hassalo on Eighth

Portland, Ore.

Developer: American Assets Trust

New York -- The Duane Reade drugstore chain has launched an iBeacon pilot in several stores in the New York area. The test was announced by Tim McCauley, senior director of mobile commerce at Walgreens, parent company of Duane Reade, during a presentation at the Mcommerce Summit in New York City.

“In Duane Reade, we now have iBeacon in our Duane Reade app, and we have a ten-store pilot in this market going on right now,” said McCauley

Woonsocket, R.I. – Net income at CVS Caremark Corp. increased 18.3% to $1.1 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, compared with approximately $1 billion a year earlier. Pharmacy services and retail pharmacy segments both benefited from the impact of increased generic drugs dispensed and slower growth in expenses.

Boise, Idaho - WinCo Foods LLC will begin shipping from its newest distribution center in Phoenix, on May 14. The center, which includes more than 900,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space, will initially service 19 WinCo Foods stores located in Arizona, Southern Nevada and Southern California.  

Lakewood, Colo. – Net income climbed 24.3% at Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc. in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, rising to $4 million from $3.21 million in the same quarter the prior fiscal year. For the remainder of the current fiscal year, Natural Grocers plans to open six new stores and remodel one.

Asheville, N.C. – Ingles Markets reported a large increase in net income and smaller increase in net sales during the second quarter of fiscal 2014 as compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. Net income soared 29.2% to $105 million from $8.1 million, while net sales grew 2.9% to $947.8 million from $920.7 million.

Atlanta – Havertys reported declining year-over-year net income and sales during the first quarter of fiscal 2014, which the retailer attributed to a 0.9% drop in same-store sales and out-of-period gross profit adjustment in the first quarter of fiscal 2013. The company still plans to open three new stores in its largest markets.

Net income dropped 26% to $6.13 million, from $8.26 million. Net sales declined 2% to $181.7 million, from $186.1 million.

New York -- Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on Thursday unveiled a plan to increase the city’s minimum wage to $15. Although Murray said the hike has broad support across local government, business and labor communities, the City Council still has to vote on the proposal.
 
Under Murray’s plan, businesses with fewer than 500 employees would have seven years to comply and larger businesses would have three years. Further increases would be tied to inflation.