WASHINGTON, D.C. — Retail and food service sales in January increased by 5.3 percent and 7.4 percent from January 2020, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Wednesday. The monthly increase is the first rise for several months, following three months of declining retail sales numbers. The growth exceeded the 1.2 percent gain that economists surveyed by Dow Jones forecasted. The Wall Street Journal reported that January’s advanced figure marks the biggest monthly gain since June 2020. The increase in sales follows the federal government’s dispersal of stimulus checks of about $600 per recipient. Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist of the National Retail Federation, said that the surge in sales is a direct result of relief funds and better trends of the COVID-19 pandemic. “There is plenty of purchasing power available for most consumers,” said Kleinhenz. “Confidence is building thanks to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, and states and local governments are beginning to remove restrictions on economic activity. Going forward, I expect consumer spending to build on this momentum.” Month to month, there was an increase in sales for motor vehicles and parts by 3.1 percent, gas stations by 4 percent, food and beverage stores by 2.4 percent, furniture stores by 12 …
SKOKIE, ILL. — The Boulder Group has brokered the $3.9 million sale of a Walgreens-occupied property in Skokie. The single-tenant, net-leased building is located at 9150 Skokie Blvd and spans 11,837 square feet. The Walgreens lease expires in 2024. Randy Blankstein and John Feeney of Boulder represented the seller, a Midwest-based individual. A West Coast-based real estate fund was the buyer.
YPSILANTI, MICH. — Pet Supplies Plus has signed a lease for 6,800 square feet at Paint Creek Plaza, a Kroger-anchored shopping center in Ypsilanti. The retailer plans to open the new store later this year. Tjader Gerdom & Larry Siedell of Gerdom Realty & Investment represented Pet Supplies Plus in the lease transaction. Grenadier Properties owns and manages Paint Creek Plaza, which is located on Whittaker Road.
WAYNE, N.J. — Discount hardware and equipment retailer Harbor Freight Tools has opened a 16,000-square-foot store in Wayne, located outside of New York City. Lew Finkelstein, C.J. Huter and Roy Paret of The Goldstein Group represented the Landlord, Glen Eagle Shopping Center LLC, in the lease negotiations. Marcus Bourn and Andrew Connolly of Newmark represented the tenant.
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS) reported fourth-quarter revenue of $69.5 billion, exceeding the $68.7 billion projected by analysts, as the Rhode Island-based drugstore and pharmacy expanded its COVID-19 testing and vaccination services. CVS also reported quarterly net income of $975 million, down from $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019. In addressing the earnings report, CEO Karen Lynch said that the company expects to roll out a wider range of healthcare services in 2021. The stock price of CVS, which operates about 10,000 stores across the United States, opened at $73.57 on Tuesday, Feb. 26, up from $71.19 per share a year ago.
NEW YORK CITY — Newmark has negotiated an 8,718-square-foot retail lease for luxury accessories provider Valentino at 135 Spring St. in the Soho area of Manhattan. The new store spans 4,424 square feet on the ground floor and 4,294 square feet on the second level. Newmark’s Ariel Schuster, Ross Berkowitz and Brandon Miller represented the landlord, Invesco Real Estate, in the lease negotiations.
PHOENIX — Newmark has arranged the sale of Shops at Tuscano, a shopping center located in Phoenix. Shrisha LLC sold the property to TDN Properties for $5.2 million. Located at 7435 W. Lower Buckeye Road, the retail center features 15,938 square feet of multi-tenant space. At the time of sale, the property was 93 percent occupied by seven tenants, including Sprint/T-Mobile, Little Caesars and TitleMax. The shopping center was built in 2006. Steve Julius, Jesse Goldsmith and Chase Dorsett of Newmark represented the seller in the transaction.
LOS ANGELES — DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services has negotiated the sale of an automotive retail building and lot located 9220 S. Sepulveda Blvd. in Los Angeles. S.A.S Services Group acquired the asset from a private partnership for $3.5 million. Situated adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), The property includes a 1,114-square-foot building sitting on a 10,454-square-foot land parcel in a corner location in close proximity to a new parking and car rental development. Kurt Yacko, Dennis Sandoval and Brian Sandoval of DAUM represented the seller in the deal.
RICHMOND, VA. — T-Mobile U.S. Inc. has opened a 131,000-square-foot customer care center at White Oak Village, a mixed-use development in Richmond. Aston Capital converted a vacant, former Sam’s Club at White Oak Village into new Class A office space for T-Mobile. The Bellevue, Wash.-based mobile phone carrier is relocating approximately 500 employees from Richmond’s Short Pump area to the building with plans to eventually grow the staff to over 1,000. Charlotte-based Aston Capital acquired the White Oak Village building in February 2020 through an affiliate company, AC Richmond. The company then made renovations to the property, including a new exterior facade and renovated parking and landscaping. The firm also added employee amenities including exercise rooms, gaming room, onsite café and mother’s room. The $30 million project, which is adjacent to more than 900,000 square feet of retail, offices, restaurants and hotels at White Oak Village, was completed in October 2020. Since 2015, Aston Capital has repurposed over 500,000 square feet of former retail properties. Frampton Construction was the general contractor on the conversion and interior upfit, Timmons Group provided civil engineering services and McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture and JPC Architects were the architects on the project.
HEATH, TEXAS — The newly launched retail investment division of Dallas-based Younger Partners has purchased Heath Town Center, a 77,669-square-foot, grocery-anchored shopping center in Heath, located northeast of Dallas. Tom Thumb is the grocery anchor at the center, which was 98 percent leased at the time of sale. Micah Ashford, Moody Younger and Kathy Permenter negotiated the deal internally for Younger Partners. Adam Howells and Barry Brown of JLL represented the seller, Malouf Interests Inc.