HOUSTON — Five Below has opened a 9,600-square-foot store at Brookhollow Marketplace, a 200,000-square-foot shopping and dining destination that is a redevelopment of the former ExxonMobil campus in Houston. The store will be Five Below’s 1,000th in the country. Fidelis Realty Partners is leading the redevelopment project, which features other retailers such as Ross Dress for Less, Michaels, Ulta Beauty, Burlington and T.J. Maxx
CINCINNATI — The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) has reported that its digital sales surged 127 percent in the second quarter, which ended Aug. 15. Consumers have been buying more groceries online as a result of the coronavirus. “Investments made to expand the company’s digital ecosystem are resonating well with customers,” says Rodney McMullen, chairman and CEO. In addition, the Cincinnati-based grocer’s operating profit of $820 million was up 43 percent compared with the same period a year ago. Total company sales were $30.5 billion in the second quarter, compared with $28.2 billion the same period last year. Kroger operates roughly 2,750 supermarkets nationally.
NORTH AURORA, ILL. — Cooper Commercial Investment Group has arranged the sale of Clock Tower Plaza in North Aurora for $3.3 million. The 38,336-square-foot retail center is 60 percent occupied by tenants such as State Farm, Eddie’s Pizza & Pub and H&R Block. Bob Havasi and Dan Cooper of Cooper represented the buyer, an East Coast-based private investor completing a 1031 exchange. The seller was undisclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Century 21, a New York City-based department store chain with a 60-year operating history, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The retailer will soon begin the process of ceasing operations and will close all 13 of its stores, which are located in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida. The decision follows nonpayment by Century 21’s insurance providers of $175 million due under policies put in place to protect against losses stemming from business interruption such as those experienced as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Papa John’s International (NASDAQ: PZZA) has signed a store development agreement that will allow the Louisville-based pizza chain to open 49 new stores in the Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey areas between 2021 and 2028. Franchisee HB Restaurant Group, which currently owns and operates 43 Papa John’s locations in the mid-Atlantic, will also own and operate the new stores.
ATLANTA — North American Properties (NAP) is planning to open Politan Row, a 42,000-square-foot food hall, at its Colony Square mixed-use development in Midtown Atlanta. The interior of Politan Row will span 20,000 square feet, while the outdoor area will total 22,000 square feet. New Orleans-based Politan Group will operate the food hall, which is expected to open in spring 2021. Colony Square is located near the intersection of Peachtree and 14th streets, three miles north of downtown Atlanta. Colony Square at full buildout will include 912,000 square feet of Class A office space leased to tenants including Whole Foods Market and law firm Jones Day; 160,000 square feet of retail and restaurants housing tenants such as IPIC, Starbucks, Holeman & Finch Public House and Chick-fil-A; the 466-room W-Atlanta Midtown hotel; outdoor gathering spaces and 262 luxury residences.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Retail Federation (NRF) has reported that retailers unexpectedly increased imports for the holiday season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker, which is released by the NRF and Hackett Associates. The expected twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for the period between July and October is now just shy of 7.6 million, which would make 2020 the third-highest holiday “peak season” on record, the Washington, D.C.-based organization said. “It’s important to be careful how much to read into these numbers after all we’ve seen this year, but retailers are importing far more merchandise for the holidays than we expected even a month ago,” says Jonathan Gold, NRF’s vice president for supply chain and customs policy. “Some of these imports are helping replenish inventories that started to run low after consumers unleashed pent-up demand when stores reopened. But this is the clearest sign yet that we could be in for a much happier holiday season than many had thought.” The most recent numbers available for the Global Port Tracker is from July, when retailers imported 1.9 million TEUs, beating the forecast of just under 1.8 million.
LILBURN, GA. — Marcus & Millichap has negotiated the $2.3 million sale of a 13,375-square-foot retail property in Lilburn. CVS/pharmacy anchors the three-tenant asset, which was also leased to Lee Nails and Domino’s Pizza at the time of sale. The property is situated at 5575 Lawrenceville Highway, 18 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. Zach Taylor of Marcus & Millichap’s Taylor McMinn Retail Group represented the seller, the Schwaighoffer Brothers, in the transaction. The buyer was Atlanta-based M&P Shopping Centers. “We generated seven offers in the first few days on the market,” says Taylor. “This activity was a clear illustration of the renewed desirability that essential tenants like drug stores currently demand.”
MONROE, GA. — MAB American Management has signed retailers Planet Fitness and Petsense to leases at Monroe Pavilion, a 350,000-square-foot shopping center underway in Monroe. Retail Specialists is handling the leasing assignment of the $80 million development. Located in Walton County about 45 miles east of Atlanta, Monroe Pavilion’s tenant roster will include Publix, Ross Dress for Less, Ulta Beauty, Marshalls, Rack Room Shoes and Five Below. Planet Fitness is set to lease 16,120 square feet, and Petsense will occupy 6,000 square feet. MAB plans to deliver the shopping center in summer 2021.
SAN FRANCISCO — Ingka Centres, part of the Ingka Group, has purchased the 6×6 Building in downtown San Francisco. MSP Property LLP, a company controlled and owned by Alexandria Real Estate Equities and TMG Partners, sold the asset for an undisclosed price. Ingka Centres will transform and redesign the more than 375,000-square-foot property, located at 945 Market St. IKEA will anchor the development, which will also feature mixed-use offerings. The IKEA store and first phase of redevelopment are slated to open in fall 2021. The property includes a parking lot and offers a total of 256,000 gross leasable square feet. The total investment, including acquisition and future redevelopment costs, is estimated at $260 million for the project. The acquisition and redevelopment is Netherlands-based Ingka Centres’ first in the United States and its second mixed-use project in a downtown location, following the company’s acquisition of Kings Mall in London’s Hammersmith earlier this year. Ingka Centres’ urban projects are all anchored by IKEA and designed to complement the IKEA Retail U.S. strategy of opening smaller-format stores within city centers in response to global urbanization trends, changing customer behavior and the digitization of retail.