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February 22, 2013   Top Story  Taubman partners with Chinese department store for new outlet Taubman Centers is partnering with Beijing Wangfujing Department Store to open a shopping center in Zhengzhou, Henan province. This is the REIT's second joint venture with the retailer. Taubman is investing $35.5 million for a majority interest. The center will open in the second quarter of 2015. China Daily (Beijing) (2/22)   Industry Tracker  Valad Europe acquires stake in Polish retail fund Valad Europe, an investment manager controlled by Blackstone Group, is acquiring a stake in the $763 million Polish real estate fund that invests in retail. GE Capital Real Estate is the seller, and is keeping a stake in the fund. Financial terms were not available. The Wall Street Journal (2/19) Retail Opportunity Investment Corp. buys San Diego retail A grocery-anchored retail center in the San Diego, Calif.-area has traded for $12.45 million. The buyer of the 37,729-square-foot center, was a Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. San Diego Business Journal (2/21) Dirt moves on retail center in northeastern Poland Ground has broken on the Galeria Warmińska shopping center in Olsztyn, Poland. With147 retail stores and a parking lot for 1,200 cars, it will be one of the largest retail centers in northeastern Poland. The retail center is preleased by 59% and includes Zara and H&M as tenants. Warsaw Business Journal (Poland) (2/18) Nebraska Crossing proposal would receive half of its redevelopment costs from Gretna The Nebraska Crossing outlet retail center would receive $57.4 million from the city of Gretna for its redevelopment costs under a proposal. The entire redevelopment costs are estimated to be $111.1 million. The city would pay for its share via tax-increment financing, a sales tax rebate and occupation tax proceeds. Omaha World-Herald (Neb.) (2/19)   Retail News  Retail landlords cheer Office Depot, OfficeMax merger The planned merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax may result in the closure of some stores, but retail landlords still see it as a positive path to create a stronger chain for the future. "We see this, on balance, as being a good thing for the industry and an opportunity for us," said Drew Alexander, CEO of Weingarten Realty Investors, whose shopping centers include 23 Office Depots and 11 OfficeMax stores. The Wall Street Journal (2/20) Wal-Mart extends "scan-and-go" option to more stores Wal-Mart has added its mobile self-checkout option at 40 Denver-area stores, after launching the first tests of the "scan-and-go" system at stores in four other markets. Shoppers use their smartphones to scan each product's bar code as they fill their carts, then the application generates a QR code that's scanned at self-payment kiosks. Internet Retailer (2/20) Other News Gigante bids $690.5 million for Office Depot de Mexico The Wall Street Journal (2/21)   Finance & Economics  Survey: Payroll tax rise leads consumers to tighten belts More than 70% of U.S. consumers said they are spending less after a payroll tax rise has taken a bite out of their take-home pay, according to a survey for NRF from BIGinsight. The higher tax is also contributing to smaller first-quarter profits at Wal-Mart, the retailer said Thursday morning. "We cannot grow the nation's economy until consumers consume," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. Bloomberg Businessweek (2/21), CNNMoney (2/21), The Hill/On the Money blog (2/21), Bloomberg (2/20), Women's Wear Daily (subscription required) (2/21), Retail's BIG Blog (2/21)   Business Best Practices  Build your courage one small act at a time Carry out small, courageous acts every day -- such as by speaking up to your boss or tackling a project that you've failed at in the past -- so that you'll be ready when your resolve is truly tested, writes Bill Treasurer, founder of Giant Leap Consulting. "Big courage feats come on the heels of many little courage acts," he writes. TrainingMag.com (2/19)   SmartQuote  The question should be, is it worth trying to do, not can it be done." --Allard Lowenstein, American politician     Subscriber Tools       Print friendly format | Web version | Search past news | Archive | Privacy policy Advertise Associate Publisher:  Kathy Dowdy 469-305-7122 Download Media Kit   Read more at SmartBrief.com A powerful website for SmartBrief readers including: Industry Home Readers' Choice Search Archive Get this RSS Feed Publish your Press Release Download a SmartBrief Mobile app today       Recent ICSC SmartBrief Issues: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 Monday, February 18, 2013 Friday, February 15, 2013 Wednesday, February 13, 2013 Monday, February 11, 2013     Lead Editor:  Liz DeHoff       Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004     © 1999-2013 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information