SAN DIEGO — Petco ended its first day of trading on Nasdaq on Thursday at $29.40 per share, 63 percent higher than its initial public offering (IPO). The San Diego-based pet care retailer is trading under the stock symbol WOOF. Petco priced its IPO at $18 per share, and the stock price opened at $26 per share Thursday. Petco operates more than 1,500 stores in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico and sells food, toys and healthcare needs for a variety of pets. Additionally, more than 100 Petco locations offer in-store veterinary services.
EL SEGUNDO, CALIF. — Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND), a producer of plant-based meat replacement products, has signed a 12-year lease for a 300,000-square-foot corporate headquarters less than one mile south of Los Angeles International Airport at 888. N. Douglas St. in El Segundo. The headquarters will be located within a four-building, 550,000-square-foot creative office and industrial campus currently under development by Hackman Capital Partners, which is scheduled for completion this spring. Beyond Meat’s offices are set to open in fall of this year and will include advanced research labs and incubator spaces for the development of new technologies and more innovative products. The company’s headquarters is designed for LEED and Fitwel certification in alignment with Beyond Meat’s mission and commitment to sustainability and workplace wellbeing. “Our new campus and state-of-the-art research facilities will house cutting-edge fundamental and applied research alongside globalized product development teams, all in service to a single goal — creating meat from plants that is indistinguishable from its animal protein equivalent,” says Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat. The JLL team of Gary Horwitz, Blake Searles, Connor Hall and Kamil Agha represented Beyond Meat in the leasing transaction. The company also tapped DPPM Project Management …
A Tale of Two Cities “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” More than 150 years later, the iconic Dickens quote still strikes a chord. While every recession is different, the pandemic-induced shelter-in-place rules quickly sent the U.S. economy into the deepest recession on record in the second quarter. Fortunately, economic recovery, at least thus far, is proving to be just as swift — in certain areas. While unemployment rates dropped quickly from 14.7 percent in April to 6.7 percent in December, a more detailed look shows widening inequality that has yet to be resolved. For those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, unemployment peaked at only 8.4 percent in April and has since fallen to 3.8 percent — a rate that was once thought to be near the point of equilibrium for the economy. Unemployment rates for those with less than a high school education peaked at 21.2 percent and for those with a high school education, at 17.7 percent. To add to the current volatile environment, the contentious U.S. presidential election kept investors on edge, assessing political as well as economic uncertainty, at least in the near-term. Volatility indices remain somewhat elevated, although …
MINNEAPOLIS — For the November and December holiday season, Target’s comparable sales rose 17.2 percent over the same period last year. Store-originated sales grew 4.2 percent and digital sales grew 102 percent. Store traffic increased 4.3 percent and the average ticket grew by 12.3 percent. The Minneapolis-based retailer also reported that its same-day services, such as order pick-up and drive-up, rose 193 percent. “The momentum in our business continued in the holiday season with notable market share gains across our entire product portfolio,” said Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO, in a news release. The merchandise category with the strongest growth was home goods. Target operates nearly 1,900 stores in the U.S. The company’s stock price closed at $199 per share Tuesday, Jan. 12, up from $123.87 per share one year ago.
PHILADELPHIA — Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) reported an 8.4 percent sales decrease for the two months that ended on Dec. 31, 2020 compared with the same period a year earlier. The Philadelphia-based apparel retailer said that lower sales within its brick-and-mortar stores were partially offset by double-digit sales growth across the digital platforms of its family of brands, which includes Free People and Anthropologie Group. For the fiscal year 2020, the company’s net sales declined by 14.3 percent year-over-year, although the retailer did open 18 new stores over the last 12 months. In addition, Urban Outfitters has announced that current CEO Trish Donnelly will be stepping down on Jan. 31, 2021 after a seven-year stint with the company and will be replaced by Sheila Harrington. Urban Outfitters’ stock price opened at $27.90 per share on Wednesday, Jan. 13, up from $26.47 per share a year ago.
BELLEVUE, WASH. AND BOSTON — Aegis Living, a seniors housing owner and operator based in Bellevue, has acquired 10 properties from Healthpeak Properties Inc. (NYSE: PEAK). Aegis already operated the communities under a lease agreement with Healthpeak Properties, a Denver-based real estate investment trust (REIT). Aegis’ joint venture partner on the $350 million acquisition is Blue Moon Capital Partners LP, a Boston-based private equity investor in the seniors housing sector. The portfolio is located in Washington, California and Nevada, totaling 702 units of assisted living and memory care. The acquired communities include: • Aegis Living Callahan House (Shoreline, Wash.) • Aegis Living Shoreline (Shoreline, Wash.) • Aegis Living Kirkland (Kirkland, Wash.) • Aegis Living Las Vegas (Las Vegas) • Aegis Living Dana Point (Dana Point, Calif.) • Aegis Gardens Fremont (Fremont, Calif.) • Aegis Living Granada Hills (Granada Hills, Calif.) • Aegis Living San Francisco (San Francisco) • Aegis Living Pleasant Hill (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) • Aegis Living Ventura (Ventura, Calif.) The transaction is the largest in Aegis’ history. The acquisition is the next step in the company’s growth strategy, which includes doubling its ownership portfolio by 2030, according to Aegis’ founder and CEO Dwayne Clark. “At a time when …
MOORESTOWN, N.J. — Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) has received a zoning approval that will allow the Philadelphia-based mall owner to add up to 1,065 multifamily units and a hotel to its Moorestown Mall in Southern New Jersey. For PREIT (NYSE: PEI), which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early November, the move is part of a larger effort to diversify the real estate at several of its regional malls. Dubbed a “densification plan” by company executives, PREIT’s plan to sell parcels of land to multifamily developers is expected to generate as much as $150 million in proceeds that will be used to reduce its outstanding debt. The company is in the process of delivering 3,500 apartments across its properties as part of the initial phase of the plan, which could ultimately see as many as 7,000 multifamily units and several hotels added to PREIT’s properties. The first phase of the multifamily component at Moorestown Mall will consist of 375 units and a hotel with an unspecified number of rooms. “Our foresight has shaped a high-quality portfolio with a strong retail core that attracts a distinctive mix of new uses to redefine the future-ready retail and leisure district,” said …
The U.S. economy’s exit from the COVID-19 pandemic will mirror the flight path of a butterfly, according to economist Dr. Peter Linneman. In other words, it will move forward but also up, down and sideways — quite erratic and not terribly fast. Linneman’s comments came during a “Walker Webcast” hosted by Walker & Dunlop CEO Willy Walker on Wednesday, Jan. 6. The butterfly stage will continue until enough people get vaccinated where Americans feel safe resuming pre-pandemic activities, argued Linneman. Once that occurs, we’ll enter the flight path of a more steady “migratory bird.” Linneman’s best guess for that timeline is June or July of this year. In order to gauge the economy’s progress, it’s best to monitor GDP growth and employment, not corporate profits or the stock market, said Linneman. In Linneman’s view, 15 percent of businesses and citizens are “really struggling” and will need continued relief and roughly six more months to get their footing. A stimulus focused on that 15 percent segment — including hotel, airline and restaurant workers — is needed, according to Linneman. “It’s not about spending; it’s about targeting,” he said. If the U.S. government can effectively target that 15 percent with stimulus relief, …
UNION, N.J. — Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported 2 percent comparable sales growth for its fiscal third quarter that ended on Nov. 30, an increase that was fueled largely by 77 percent growth in digital sales compared with the same period a year ago. Despite this growth, the New Jersey-based retailer will continue with its plan that was announced in July of last year to close some 200 stores by mid-2022. According to CNBC, this includes the closing of 43 stores by the end of February. Bed Bath & Beyond also agreed in December agreed to sell its Cost Plus World Market brand to Los Angeles-based private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management. The company’s stock price closed at $21.03 per share on Wednesday, Dec. 6, up from $16.60 per share a year ago. CNBC also reports that as of late August, Bed Bath & Beyond operated about 1,500 stores across the country.
NEW CASTLE, DEL. — Pennsylvania-based Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE: HT) has sold the 192-room Sheraton Wilmington South hotel in New Castle, located south of Philadelphia. The six-story building was constructed in 2011 and renovated in 2020. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, business center and 9,167 square feet of meeting and event space. Jeffrey Davis, Blaise Fletcher, Stephen VanLeer, K.C. Patel, Nikhil Chuchra and Desmund Delaney of JLL represented Hersha Hospitality Trust in the sale of the property to New Castle County. Hersha Hospitality’s stock price closed at $7.49 per share on Monday, Jan. 4, down from $13.74 per share a year ago.