6 retailers that are expanding

Canadian-owned trendy gift retailer Showcase, which operates 107 stores in Canadian malls and in 2020 surpassed the $100 million revenue mark, plans a major U.S. expansion. “We are big believers in bricks-and-mortar,” said CEO Samir Kulkarni. “It’s the most visceral, personal experience that a retailer can provide for its customers. The major growth potential for us is in the U.S.” Kulkarni said the U.S. could support 1,000 Showcase stores. “We opened 10 stores in the U.S. in 2019 just prior to the pandemic. Those stores are growing despite all of the recent challenges. As we complete that pilot, we’ll then turn our attention to an extensive rollout in the U.S. market.”

Tiremaker Bridgestone Retail Operations will open 58 stores in 2021, 18 of them this month. The expansion marks a second year of significant growth. In 2020, it added 52 locations, bringing its total to 2,200. The company’s stores operate under the banners Firestone Complete Auto Care, Tires Plus, Hibdon Tires Plus and Wheel Works.

Fast-casual restaurant chain Rush Bowls opened eight locations in Utah, Arkansas, Connecticut, Texas, Arizona, Michigan, South Carolina and Washington, D.C., in 2020 and will open another 14 to 16 in 2021. The company serves fresh and healthy meals-in-a-bowl and smoothies.

Lululemon will expand its worldwide base in 2021 by 40 to 50 stores after strong sales growth and marketshare gains in 2020, according to CEO Calvin McDonald. “We continue to be underpenetrated from a brick-and-mortar perspective across all our markets, including North America and around the world. I’m excited to build upon the success of curbside pickup, virtual waitlist and appointment shopping,” he said on a fourth-quarter-earnings call. The company has 491 stores and ended the year with $1.2 billion in cash.

Retailer Vera Bradley will open its first Pura Vida Lab in June, in San Diego’s Westfield UTC. Vera Bradley acquired a controlling interest in the digitally native Pura Vida jewelry brand last year for $75 million. If the store is successful, the company will open more. And to bring small brands to physical stores, Vera Bradley will open The Good Mrkt at Jefferson Pointe shopping center in Vera Bradley’s hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The new concept will feature dozens of digital and mom-and-pop apparel and accessories brands when it opens this spring.

Lowe’s has accelerated its appliance outlet store openings. The first Lowe’s appliance outlet store opened in Monrovia, California, in 2019. Another opened in Miami in January and another in a former Staples in Chicago in February. The outlets are smaller than traditional Lowe’s stores, at around 30,000 square feet, and they stock scratch-and-dent appliances and parts discounted by as much as 70 percent. The company is opening its first Texas outlet store today, in Irving. It will occupy part of a 139,000-square-foot traditional Lowe’s store the retailer closed two years ago.

Brookfield reaches deal to take real estate arm private

Brookfield Property Partners’ board has approved a $6.5 billion offer from Brookfield Asset Management to buy the 40 percent of Brookfield Property it doesn’t already own. That’s up from the $5.9 billion it proposed in January. Brookfield Property’s retail holdings include 122 properties, totaling more than 120 million square feet. Public markets aren’t valuing the portfolio of malls and other commercial properties accurately, Brookfield Asset Management says, so it’s taking its real estate arm private. Brookfield Property units have traded at discounts of 20 to 45 percent of the underlying value of the company’s underlying assets for the past five years, according to Brookfield Asset Management CFO Nick Goodman. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

Hot competition among net lease investors for essential retail tenants

Investors are lining up for a limited supply of newly constructed freestanding retail properties that have long leases with essential retailers. That competition is driving cap rates in the sector to historic lows. The national asking cap rate for single-tenant, net leased retail properties was 5.91 percent in the first quarter, a nine basis-point decline from the previous quarter, according to The Boulder Group’s Q1 2021 Net Lease Market Report. Essential retailers were highly sought after in the first quarter. During the period, the average cap rate was 4.9 percent for recently constructed 7-Elevens, 5 percent for new CVS stores and 4 percent for McDonald’s.

Résumé updates

RioCan has completed the transition of its CEO. Jonathan Gitlin is now president and CEO. His predecessor, founder Edward Sonshine, is now non-executive chairman. This is the final step of the succession plan RioCan announced in March 2019.

Sarah Williams has joined Taubman’s Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey as general manager. She returns to Taubman from Irvine Co., where she served as senior director of partnership marketing. Williams previously worked in senior marketing roles for Taubman and served in varying capacities at JLL and General Growth Properties.

The latest retail property deals

Canada’s Slate Asset Management acquired the U.S. real estate assets of investment firm Annaly Capital Management for $2.9 billion. About 30 percent of Annaly’s properties are retail, including a $490 million, 3.1 million-square-foot portfolio of 25 grocery-anchored assets in major U.S. markets that will be owned by Slate Grocery REIT, which is managed by Slate Asset Management. Tops, Market 32 and Tom Thumb anchor most of the assets. The acquisition will boost Slate Grocery’s portfolio to 13 million square feet valued at $2.13 billion, said David Dunn, CEO of the REIT. “This transaction increases our exposure to America’s largest metropolitan markets at an attractive cost basis and deepens our relationships with leading omnichannel grocers whose neighborhood stores will continue to serve as critical food distribution points for both in-store and online purchases.”

Phillips Edison & Co. acquired the 28,134-square-foot Hickory Creek Plaza shopping center in Denton, Texas, from Regency Centers for $37.25 million. It’s Phillips Edison & Co.’s 12th shopping center in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. Tenants include Papa Murphy’s pizza, Great Clips, H&R Block, Mathnasium, ATI Physical Therapy, Envy Nail Spa, Good Morning Donuts and Pizza Hut. Disney Investment Group represented the seller.

Wood Investments Cos. purchased the 197,288-square-foot CentrePoint Marketplace in Meridian, Idaho, for $35 million. Tenants include Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kohl’s, Panera, Qdoba, Walgreens and Wingers. Mountain West Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer.

Save Mart Portfolio Owner NLP CA LLC bought Whitmore Plaza in Ceres, California, from Yosemite Properties for $18.4 million. Save Mart grocery store and Planet Fitness anchor the 115,396-square-foot property. Capital Rivers Commercial and Hanley Investment Group represented the seller.

Krispy Kreme and Florida Family Realty sold a 4,345-square-foot store in Miami Gardens, Florida, to Bremen House for $9 million. The building is on 1.9 acres and includes a drive-thru.

First National Realty Partners bought the 75,382-square-foot Gadd Crossing Shopping Center in Hixson, Tennessee, from The Keith Corp. for $8 million. Aldi, Gold’s Gym, Moe’s Southwest Grill and State Farm are tenants.

The 68,000-square-foot Village Center Shopping Center in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, traded for $4.8 million. Tenants include Weis market and the DMV. Cleeman Realty Group represented the buyer and seller in the off-market transaction.

Midland Atlantic Properties sold a new, 9,723-square-foot, four-tenant pad at Bradley Commons, a Walmart Supercenter-anchored center in Bourbonnais, Illinois, for $4.4 million to a private investor. Tenants at the pad, pictured at top, are Jersey Mike’s Subs with a drive-thru, Midwest Express Clinic, AT&T and UbreakIfix. Hanley Investment Group represented the seller.

Prescott White bought a Lowell, Massachusetts, property net leased to Domino’s from Geoff Schembechler for $2 million. The freestanding property has a drive-thru. About 10 years remain on Domino’s lease. B+E brokered the deal.

After leasing a 2,500-square-foot building in Windsor, Colorado, for about 20 years, a Taco Bell franchisee purchased the property for $2 million. Capital Income Properties Group represented the seller in the 1031 exchange.