REAL ESTATE

For more than half a century, Chain Store Age’s annual SPECS conference has delivered one of the retail industry’s most important and impactful events.        The 2017 event, to be held March 12-14 at the Gaylord Palms, Kissimmee, Florida, will cover a wide range of emerging and evolving issues, focusing on must-see innovations and essential information about trends, topics and technologies that will be impacting the industry for many years to come.   

American Apparel’s financial saga is winding down.  

Mall of America is upping its entertainment quotient with a 40,000-sq.-ft. arcade imported from India.   Called Smaaash, and co-founded by an entrepreneur from India, the attraction includes a multilevel go-cart track, virtual reality and video games and a restaurant and bar, the Star Tribune reported.  

Century 21 is expanding into a new market.   The New York City-based off-price retailer will open its 12th store to date, and first in the state of Florida, at Sawgrass Mills, in Sunrise. The 85,000-sq.-ft. store will open on Dec. 16.    The Florida location will feature the retailer’s C21-On-1 Stylist Program, providing shoppers with the opportunity to book a free one-on-one appointment with a fashion stylist.         

CVS Health has embarked on a three-step streamlining initiative with a goal of saving approximately $3 billion from 2017 to 2021.     Two-thirds of the savings will be seen in CVS’s retail/long-term care segment, with the remaining one-third of savings seen in the pharmacy benefits manager category.        

A recent Washington Post article pointed out that Anthropologie posted four straight quarters of flat or declining comparable sales and J. Crew saw comparable sales drop 10% in the last year. Banana Republic has seen a decline in comparable sales for the past 13 months, including a staggering 14% plunge in July. Weak sales numbers have also plagued Gap and Ann Taylor.  

Four senior executive promotions have been announced by Mid-American Real Estate Corporation.   Brian Adams, Greg Bayer, and Willie Hoag have all been named principals at the Oakbrook, Illinois-based company, a real estate services company that also operates in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Peter Scannell has been promoted to senior VP.  

When the Northern Lights Center in Anchorage, Alaska, was owned by folksy former governor Wally Hickel, things were good for Title Wave Books. The midtown neighborhood was in decline, rent was cheap, and husband-and-wife owners Julie Drake and Steve Lloyd were able to make a living from their low-margin inventory.