REAL ESTATE

Now Trending: Online’s impact on store sales is vastly overstated
The narrative is well established: Online sales are rising dramatically and having a major impact on brick-and-mortar retailers. The facts, however, are not quite so cut and dried. Internet sales still account for a remarkably small overall percentage of U.S. retail sales. A quarter century after Amazon’s first shipment was mailed, the Web accounts for less than 9% of U.S. retail sales. With sales of $500 billion, Walmart alone is the equivalent of six Amazons.
St. Louis Center sold for $10.6 million
Springfield, Illinois-based Jared Commercial has acquired the Chippewa Center in St. Louis from an investment partnership controlled by Pace Properties. The purchase price was $10.6 million. The 147,920-sq.-ft. center is located in the densely populated Shrewsbury neighborhood of St. Louis. Chief tenants are Shop ‘n Save, Value City Furniture, and Dollar Tree. The deal was brokered for Jared Commercial by Mid-America Real Estate.

Von Maur adds new location for specialty store format

Von Maur is slowly expanding its Dry Goods women’s specialty store format. The retailer has opened a 4,000-sq.-ft. store at Woodland Mall. Since launching in 2010, Dry Goods has grown to 19 locations across six states. Dry Good’s name and store design were inspired by Von Maur's heritage as a dry goods store, dating back to 1872 in downtown Davenport, Iowa.
Toys 'R' Us’ ongoing turnaround plans include more stores

Fun. And smaller stores. Both are part of Toys “R” Us’ plan to revive itself, Bloomberg reported.
Dunkin’ Donuts opens milestone store

It’s 12,000 stores and counting for Dunkin’ Donuts. The chain on Tuesday opened its 12,000th restaurant worldwide, in Riverside, California. The new location is part of Dunkin’s strategic westward expansion. It plans to open more than 30 new restaurants in California this year with plans for about 300 new locations total to be developed in the state over the coming years.
Department store retailer in expansion mode

Not all department stores are scaling back on their portfolio. Von Maur Department Stores has opened its third location in the state of Georgia, a 165,000-sq.-ft. store at the Mall of Georgia in Buford.
Eataly entering new market

Eataly is taking its Italian food marketplace format to Canada. The company announced plans to open its first Canadian location in early 2019, as an anchor tenant of the newly renovated Manulife Centre in Toronto. Eataly, which combines food markets, restaurants, and eateries, will span three stories for a total space of 50,000 sq. ft.
Petco creates market expansion role

Petco has named William Engen senior VP of retail market expansion, a newly created role dedicated to optimizing the company’s investments in store growth. Engen, who joins Petco from Wingstop Restaurants, where he served as COO, will be in charge of real estate, construction, and store design. He previously served in senior operations roles at 7-Eleven and Circuit City.
Custom menswear start-up expanding in U.S.

Hot on the heels of its first U.S. store, Surmesur, a made-to-measure online men’s clothing retailer, has brought its original custom menswear concept to Chicago. The Chicago store is the eighth for the custom menswear retailer and the second outside Canada's borders, with the recent opening of a store in Pittsburgh.
Unusual deal gives Aeropostale new lease on life — and it just got better

A first-of-its kind arrangement has saved Aeropostale. A consortium made up of Authentic Brands Group (ABG) and two of the nation’s largest real estate companies — General Growth Properties and Simon Property Group — announced it has finalized the acquisition of the teen apparel retailer. It is the first time that mall operators have participated in a deal to acquire a retail chain.