ATLANTA AND MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Atlanta-based Home Depot and Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe’s Cos. Inc. both had strong fourth-quarter sales despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The CEOs of both firms cited increased demand for home improvement products as the catalyst behind their sales jumps. Home Depot’s (NYSE: HD) sales increased 25 percent year-over-year for its 2020 fiscal fourth quarter, which CNBC reports outperformed the 19.2 percent growth that analysts were expecting. Home Depot’s fiscal fourth-quarter 2020 ended on Jan. 31, 2021. Home Depot’s digital sales rose 83 percent in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago. Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) sales increased 28.1 percent in the fourth-quarter fiscal year 2020, which also outstripped expectations of 22 percent growth, according to CNBC. Lowe’s fiscal fourth quarter 2020 ended Jan. 29. The retailer’s e-commerce sales jumped by 121 percent, while all merchandising departments saw 16 percent growth. According to CNBC, Home Depot gets 45 percent of its sales from professionals, such as electricians and contractors, while the rest come from unprofessional, do-it-yourself customers. This was higher than Lowe’s, which gets 20 to 25 percent of its total sales from professional individuals.
OXON HILL, MD. — BurgerFi, Roll by Goodyear, Girlkin Lashes and MahoganyBooks have joined National Harbor, a retail and dining development in Suburban Maryland. Peterson Cos. developed National Harbor over 10 years ago. The National Harbor, located at 165 Waterfront St. in Oxon Hill, has over 280,700 square feet of flexible retail space. The development features brands and retailers such as Carhartt, Alex and Ani, Build-A-Bear Workshop, ZAAF, A Beautiful Closet, BrookieGirl and The Furlough Cheesecake. BurgerFi is opening a 2,714-square-foot casual restaurant at National Harbor this summer. Roll by Goodyear will open in the spring in a 1,616-square-foot space. Girlkin Lashes will open its 1,311-square-foot lash and brow salon this spring. Lastly, MahoganyBooks will open its 1,408-square-foot bookstore with books for, by or about African diaspora. The Waterfront District at National Harbor provides easy access and parking, as well as riverfront location to the Potomac River. The tourist attraction is 11 miles from Washington, D.C., and typically has 14 million visitors a year. The property also features the Capital Wheel, a 180-foot observation wheel, and the Guide by Cell outdoor art gallery tour.
SEATTLE; BOISE, IDAHO; AND SALT LAKE CITY — JLL Capital Markets has secured $274.4 million in financing for a six-property portfolio of core-quality retail properties totaling 2.7 million square feet across Seattle, Boise and Salt Lake City. The borrower is a joint venture between CenterCal Properties and a large pension fund and its advisors Principal and PCCP. The financing includes five separate 10-year, fixed-rate, non-recourse CMBS loans provided by JP Morgan Chase. Loan proceeds were used to retire existing debt and rebalance leverage across the portfolio. The portfolio consists of four grocery-anchored shopping centers, one power center and one retail strip asset, all leased to a mix of national and credit-worthy tenants across various retail sectors. Kevin MacKenzie, Bruce Ganong, Paul Brindley, Sam Godfrey and Spencer Bergthold of JLL represented the borrower in the financing.
ANN ARBOR, MICH. — Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) reported that its global retail sales increased 12 percent in the fourth quarter and 10.4 percent in fiscal 2020. U.S. same-store sales grew 11.2 percent during the quarter and 11.5 percent for the year. However, the Ann Arbor-based pizza chain missed Wall Street’s estimates for its fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, according to CNBC. Pandemic costs weighed on profits and U.S. same-store sales growth slowed compared with prior quarters. Domino’s stock price closed at $364.59 per share on Wednesday, Feb. 24, down slightly from $368.66 per share one year ago. There are more than 17,600 stores in 90 markets worldwide. It is the largest pizza company in the world based on retail stores, according to the company.
RICHFIELD, MINN. — Domestic online sales for Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) increased 89.3 percent in the fourth quarter on a year-over-year basis, according to the company. The Richfield-based retailer’s fourth quarter ended Jan. 30. “Online sales grew to a record $6.7 billion and made up 43 percent of our total domestic sales,” said CEO Corie Barry said in a news release. “Our stores played a pivotal role in the fulfillment of these sales, as almost two-thirds of our online revenue was either picked up in store or curbside, shipped from a store or delivered by a store employee.” Barry also announced that Best Buy would pay its employees a cash bonus in recognition of their efforts despite the pandemic. In the next few weeks, all hourly U.S. employees will receive $500 if they are full-time workers and $200 if part-time. The retailer is also encouraging its employees to get COVID vaccinations and will offer paid time off to do so. Best Buy’s fourth-quarter net income rose to $816 million, up from $745 million the year prior. Best Buy’s stock price closed at $113.24 per share on Wednesday, Feb. 24, up from $81.89 per share one year ago. There …
CHICAGO — Frontline Real Estate Partners LLC, Carr Realty Advisors LLC and Stillwater Advisory Group Inc. have formed a new joint venture known as Frontline Real Estate Partners- Shopping Mall and Lifestyle Division. The venture will provide its clients with receivership, property and asset management, and leasing and disposition services for malls and lifestyle centers. “We have all seen the downturn of malls in recent years, with low occupancy levels and retailers going into bankruptcy. The pandemic expedited that even more,” says Matthew Tarshis, principal of Frontline. “We felt the urgency to form this new joint venture to provide real estate solutions for the distressed portion of this niche asset class.” Tarshis is joined by Joey Carr of Carr Realty and Chris Facas of Stillwater. All three real estate firms are based in Chicago.
MINNEAPOLIS — Target (NYSE: TGT) has announced plans to open small-scale Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shops inside 17 of its stores this month, with additional locations scheduled to open this fall. The company will also expand its online Apple product offerings over the coming weeks. The new Apple in-store experience will offer a mix of products and accessories in a dedicated space designed for guests to see new products and view demonstrations by Target Tech Consultants, who will receive specialized training from Apple. Each shop will feature new lighting fixtures and displays for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod, Apple TV and other Apple accessories. “Apple products are popular with Target’s guests and this new dedicated shopping experience offers enhanced service and expanded offerings, building on our strength as a go-to destination for electronics,” says Christina Hennington, executive vice president and chief growth officer of Minneapolis-based Target. “This new model was created with Target’s guests in mind and we’ll continue to learn and enhance the experience through future rollouts later this year.” Apple shops are set to open this month at Target locations in Monticello, Minn.; San Jose, Calif.; Oklahoma City; Allen, Hurst, Austin, Irving and San Antonio, Texas; Gainesville, Orlando, …
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — San Jose-based Fry’s Electronics has decided to shut down its operations and close business permanently as a result of changes in the retail industry and challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. After nearly 36 years as a one-stop shop and online resource for high-tech consumers, Fry’s says it will implement a shutdown of its 31 stores across nine states through a wind-down process that will be in the best interests of the company, its creditors and other stakeholders. Fry’s ceased regular operations and began the closing process today. The intentions of the wind-down process are to reduce costs, avoid additional liabilities, minimize the impact to customers, vendors, landlords and associates, as well as maximize the value of the company’s assets for its creditors and stakeholders. Currently, Fry’s is in the process of reaching out to its customers with repairs and consignment vendors to help them understand the closing process and the proposed next steps.
MINNEAPOLIS — Blu Dot is expanding its headquarters in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District to 60,000 square feet. Blu Dot, a furniture designer and retailer, will expand its onsite retail store and add creative office space for its employees. The company’s headquarters are located at the 20-acre Crown-Arts Center, which is owned by Chicago-based R2 Cos. Today, Blu Dot owns and operates 10 stores across the U.S. and three internationally.
EAST PEORIA, ILL. — Slumberland Furniture will open a new store at the former Gordmans space at The Levee District in East Peoria. The regional furniture retailer will occupy 50,221 square feet and will become an anchor tenant at the development. Slumberland offers a large selection of mattresses, bedding, living room furniture, recliners, tables, bedroom furniture, home entertainment and desks. Owned and managed by Cullinan Properties Ltd., The Levee District spans more than 86 acres with 650,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, as well as office, hotel and civic components.