REAL ESTATE

Chattanooga, Tenn. — In an April 11 conference call, CBL & Associates Properties provided an in-depth review of its business strategy, including a number of initiatives designed to enhance shareholder value.

On the conference call, the Company outlined the following goals and objectives through a slide presentation:

Position the portfolio to produce sustained same-center net operating income (NOI) growth of 2-4%, about double the current range of 1%-2%;

Virginia Beach, Va. — Divaris Real Estate has announced four leases totaling 29,099 sq. ft. of retail space in the Hampton roads area of Virginia.

PetSmart has taken 14,286 sq. ft. at Peninsula town Center in Hampton. As the chain’s exclusive representative in Virginia, the Richmond office of DRE represented PetSmart in the negotiations.

Ulta has signed a lease for 10,500 sq. ft. in Crossways Shopping Center in Chesapeake. DRE’s Virginia Beach office represented the landlord, JLP-Chesapeake in the transaction.

Las Cruces, New Mexico — The family-fun Natural Grocers has opened its fifth New Mexico location in Las Cruces at 3970 E. Lohman Avenue.

The national chain has locations across Colorado, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico, Montana, Kansas, Idaho, Nebraska, Arizona and Oregon.

London -- British luxury fashion brand Burberry blends digital and physical retailing at its new flagship in Kerry Centre, Shanghai. The three-floor location has been designed to offer multi-sensory experiences for its customers.

 Inspired by Burberry’s Regent Street flagship in London, the Shanghai store incorporates British craftsmanship and materials with cutting-edge technologies, starting with an illuminated façade that responds to changes in weather and natural light and also displays programmed animation.

Tokyo – Uniqlo opens new stores in Berlin, and in three U.S. locations on Friday, April 11. The 2,700-sq.-ft., three-story Berlin store is located on the Tauentzienstrasse shopping boulevard and is Uniqlo’s first German store.

The Berlin store is also the largest Uniqlo store in Europe and features revolving mannequins wearing origami headdresses and LED ticker-tapes listing all the cities where Uniqlo has stores around the world.

Lakewood, Colo. – Natural Grocers Inc. has opened two new stores in Las Cruces, N.M. and Gresham, Ore. The locations are respectively Natural Grocers’ fifth store in New Mexico and seventh store in Oregon.

Natural Grocers stores offer features including a credentialed nutritional health coach, local products, free recyclable boxes and demos, speakers and seminars.

Columbus, Ohio -- DSW Inc. is bringing women’s footwear brand Yellow Box into the retail arena. DSW’s Affiliated Business Group (ABG) division has entered into an agreement with Yellow Box Corp. to operate stores under the Yellow Box banner. The company plans to open Yellow Box stores throughout the United States, starting off with three to five store openings in 2014.

Columbus, Ohio – Lane Bryant opens two new stores Friday, April 11. The stores are located at Burnsville Center in Burnsville, Minn., and Alliance Town Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

Lane Bryant operates 775 stores nationwide and an e-commerce site.