REAL ESTATE

Santa to take flight at 12 Taubman malls
Taubman is taking the Santa experience to a higher level — literally — at 12 malls this holiday season. On Nov. 11, the mall owner and manager will debut “Santa’s Flight Academy,” where kids will be able to register as members of the jolly old elf’s flight crew, help Sleigh Mechanic George or Reindeer Caretaker Flash prepare for liftoff and engage in what Taubman is describing as an “immersive holiday experience.”
Brickell City Centre makes its debut
Four years of construction in Miami’s Brickell financial district culminates on Thursday with the opening of a three-level, open-air retail center featuring the return of Saks Fifth Avenue to the city after a 30-year absence.

Online custom menswear retailer opening first shop

Knot Standard is trying on brick-and-mortar. The online seller of custom menswear will open its first store-in-store concept on Nov. 3, at Bloomingdale's Manhattan flagship on 59th Street. Knot Standard, which promises customers 100% creative control, uses 3D technology to allow customers to digitally design and visualize hundreds of fabric options to create their own unique custom garments on a large in-store touch-screen or on any iPad, prior to purchase.
Macy’s unloads five stores

Macy’s Inc. is living up to its promise to downsize. The department store giant announced it has sold five stores to General Growth Properties for $46 million. All but four of the locations will be closed by spring 2017.
Texas mall re-do to include a performing arts center

Starwood Retail Partners’ $100 million renovation of The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Texas, will add genuine life to its re-imagined entertainment component. North Texas Performing Arts and its Plano Children’s Theatre will make its new headquarters in a 23,000-sq.-ft. space at the mall, which is also getting eight chef-driven restaurants and a 30,000-sq.-ft. fitness center.
Sporting goods retailer revs up expansion

Modell’s Sporting Goods is opening a flagship on the site of a former rival. Modell’s will open a two-level, 20,000-sq.-ft. store on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in a site formerly occupied by Sports Authority. The opening is slated for mid-November. The store will become Modell’s flagship store in Manhattan, said William Rudin, CEO of property manager Rudin Management Company, in a release.
Canadian outerwear brand opens pop up

Canadian retailer Arc'teryx has opened a stylish pop-up dedicated to its Veilance outerwear menswear collection. Arc'teryx partnered with New York-based design firm Snarkitecture on the temporary store, located in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, which will be open until January 8, 2017.
Report: Amazon to open 20 grocery stores over the next two years

The nation’s largest online retailer has big plans for brick-and-mortar expansion.
Canadian health and beauty retailer to open stores in U.S.

A retailer that specializes in natural, plant-based wellness and beauty products is hoping to make a big splash in the United States. Saje Natural Wellness will open its first U.S. store at the end of November, in Malibu, California, with plans to open 25 additional locations in 2017. The company’s stores are designed to offer a sensorial and educational experience, allowing engagment with the products on display.
High street rents go, well, sky-high

Current retail thinking that the high and the low ends are driving the industry has gotten a boost from CBRE Group. High street rents are off the charts worldwide, according to company’s just-released Global Retail Rents report. Rents in prime shopping locations during the second quarter were up 30% in Rome, 24%, 20% in Milan, and 14% in Sydney and New York.