Mall traffic is decreasing from the heights recorded in July, with indoor mall visits declining 6.5% last month from September 2019 and outdoor mall visits also down, according to Placer.ai. Placer.ai's Ethan Chernofsky notes, however, that July visits were increased by a unique mix of factors and this "artificial" boost "made the sector appear somewhat ahead of where it really was."
Macerich has launched a digital platform for booking short-term retail leases at the REIT's properties in a user-friendly manner. Called QuikSpace, the product is available at six Macerich properties and is expected to be introduced throughout the portfolio early next year.
Mountain View, Calif., leaders are looking to permanently close one of their streets to cars and create a pedestrian-only mall with restaurants and shops. City officials were considering the idea before the pandemic and the indoor shopping and dining restrictions gave them a chance to test the concept.
New leases mean that Federal Realty Investment Trust's mixed-use development Westpost in Northern Virginia is on track to have its retail space fully occupied in the first half of 2022. Amazon's proximity and more multifamily development in the area are appealing factors for restaurants and retailers. "We're at the end of term from a lot of the original leases from lease up, so we were able to tell a compelling story about the area from our view of National Landing," says Federal Realty's Stuart Biel.
About $477 million in debt for Tampa's International Plaza will be refinanced by Simon Property Group, Nuveen and Taubman Realty Group. The retail center has become a regional destination for luxury shoppers and is anchored by Dillard's, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.
Target's rapid grocery growth is being built on the same "cool factor" that has earned the retailer a cult following in many nonfood categories, and future strategy calls for "generating guest love in food and beverage by leaning into the strengths that differentiate us," Target's Rick Gomez said. Gomez breaks down the "Tarjay" approach to grocery, both in-store and online, and says it is finding success by being "unapologetically Target."
Bloomingdale's small-format Bloomie's store that opened in Virginia this summer features rotating curated collections of luxury goods, tailored to local tastes and designed with millennials and Gen Zers in mind. The store is the first Bloomie's location and the retailer expects to learn from shoppers as it makes plans for the concept, Bloomingdale's executive Denise Magid said.
Nordstrom aims to hire 28,600 staffers in the US and Canada in preparation for the holidays, up from 22,000 last year. The new regular and seasonal hires will fill posts at namesake and Nordstrom Rack stores, warehouses and customer care centers.
The online women's apparel retailer Lulu's Fashion Lounge Holdings, founded by mother and daughter Debra Cannon and Colleen Winter, filed for an initial public offering to raise $100 million, a figure that could change before the deal comes to the market. The offering could give the company a $1 billion valuation.
