COVID-19 testing kiosks will appear at Simon and others’ properties

Collection Sites is opening outdoor COVID-19 testing kiosks at shopping centers around the country, most recently inking a deal with Simon that includes four kiosks in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. Each site can provide as many as 150 tests a day and results within 24 hours. Charges range from $59 to $179 for antibody and antigen tests. The company accepts most insurance plans. Rapid tests for COVID-19 antibodies take no more than 10 minutes and are delivered by text or email. The company likes to locate at shopping centers because they’re convenient and are also big employment sites with a need for onsite testing.

SCT introduced you to this tenant in September, and it keeps growing

We introduced you to Everytable, a grab-and-go dining concept with a good heart, in a September story. Now, its mission to operate in affluent areas and food deserts alike is paying off with $16 million in Series B funding and nine new leases across California signed for 2021. The company plans to open at least 40 locations in the next two years, the majority of them under its Everytable Social Equity Franchise Program, which will provide access to capital and comprehensive training to entrepreneurs of color from marginalized communities. Everytable recently awarded its first Social Equity Franchise location in Hollywood to a Black woman from South Los Angeles.

This time last year

Here’s what SCT was talking about one year ago.

Retail breathes life into innovation districts
Canadian malls’ retail sales per square foot climbed in 2019
Digital brands open surge of SoCal stores
At LAX Terminal 1, local and national retailers mix to best serve travelers
Power center cap rates declined in second half
Coffee beats doughnuts at doughnut shops
Three questions with U.K. outlet center developer

Do customers like curbside pickup as much as retailers want them to?

Retailers might be missing the mark by overinvesting in curbside pickup operations, according to Pymnts.com. Almost five times more consumers want products delivered than want to pick items up curbside or in-store, according to the publication. But its Global Digital Shopping Index finds that many traditional retailers continue to invest in options like buy-online-pick-up-in-store. According to the report, 38.3 percent of merchants think that consumers commonly use BOPIS, while just 10 percent of consumers say they use BOPIS often or always.

Department store closures hurt mall valuations

Obsolete anchors are the top threat to mall valuations, according to a report from Green Street. Since 2016, when mall values were at their peak, about 360 mall-based department stores have closed. And since 2016, the values of A-rated malls have plunged some 45 percent. Roughly half of remaining mall-based department stores will close by the end of 2025, the firm reports. Macy’s and JCPenney each occupy 18 percent of anchor space at U.S. malls, and Sears has 2 percent. Other department stores like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus represent 27 percent. And non-department store anchors occupy the rest.

Belk and L’Occitane file for bankruptcy

Southeastern department store chain Belk and French body and beauty products brand L’Occitane en Provence have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Belk’s owner, Sycamore Partners, will provide $225 million in capital for the retailer, which does not plan to close any of its 300 stores. Belk entered bankruptcy with a pre-arranged deal with lenders to refinance its debt and aims to exit by the end of February. Meanwhile, the U.S. division of L’Occitane International, which has 166 locations in the U.S., wants to reject 29 leases it claims are no longer at market rent levels due to COVID-19’s impact on shopper traffic. The company owes landlords $15 million in back rent from stores that were forced to close.

Goodbye, sweet memories of chocolate-covered strawberries in the mall

Godiva will shut all its 128 North American locations within several months due to declining sales. Instead, it will enhance its e-commerce presence and its partnerships with grocery stores and other retailers. In recent years, the company had announced plans to open 2,000 cafes worldwide, but that has changed as a result of COVID-19. Stores in Europe, the Middle East and China will remain open.

The latest retail developments

Spy Rock Real Estate and The Crescent Group plan a multiuse development with 580 homes on the site of the former Henrico Plaza Shopping Center in Richmond, Virginia. The new, 27-acre development, called Henrico Plaza, would include 300 apartments, 115 townhomes, 165 age-restricted units and at least 13,000 square feet of commercial space. The buildings would occupy the site where the 1970s-era shopping center stood until it was razed in the mid-2000s. One building from the shopping center remains, housing a Firestone automotive center and a restaurant.

Also in Richmond, Virginia, Rebkee and Shamin Hotels plan to redevelop the 97,000-square-foot JCPenney anchor at Virginia Center Commons into an apartment complex after paying the retailer $3 million for the property. The owners expect JCPenney to shut the store in March.

Viking has received approval to develop a $32.5 million, three-acre sports events center at the Celebration Pointe shopping center in Gainesville, Florida. The proposed center will be at least 110,000 square feet and include an athletic facility with 13 basketball courts, 26 volleyball courts, an indoor track and concessions. It could open as soon as October 2022.

Reger Holdings will develop the $1 billion, 425-acre EastVillage in northeastern Austin, Texas. The project will include 800,000 square feet of office, 300,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, three hotels totaling 390 rooms, 2,000 multifamily units, an active-adult community and a 150-acre nature preserve.

Cross Keys Development Co. is redeveloping the former Kmart anchor at Cross Keys Place, in Plumstead Township, Pennsylvania, to accommodate several tenants. The center’s Giant grocery anchor will expand into part of the space, and a combination HomeGoods/Marshalls store will occupy the remainder.

Developers want to convert the 1970s-era 5 Points Shopping Center in Biddeford, Maine, into a six-level apartment building and add senior housing apartments on adjacent land.

A 48,000-square-foot Publix supermarket will anchor WMG Development’s The Shoppes at Palmer Ranch in Sarasota, Florida’s Palmer Ranch master-planned community. The 65,848-square-foot center is projected to open in late September 2022. Heartland Dental also will open a unit at the center.

Plans are underway to redevelop the vacant Arbor Town Square shopping center in Westland, Michigan. The owner wants to split the existing property into three parcels to accommodate more tenants.

Federal plans $7 million of upgrades to its 250,000-square-foot Linden Square in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Completion is scheduled for 2022. The improvements, which include outdoor amenities, will include COVID safety measures.