by Elaine Misonzhnik October 1st, 2009
For more than a year now, retail landlords and property managers have been dealing with the disheartening trend of rising vacancies. Even the best markets and the best properties did not seem to be immune from this downturn. So it’s great to hear that at least one corner of the retail real estate universe–outlet centers–has been experiencing higher occupancy in recent months. You can read about that, as well as about a new Macerich transaction and General Growth’s asset valuations, below.
- Underlining yesterday’s revelation that a lot of bank executives are not aware of their bank’s exposure to commercial real estate, Square Feet Blog reports that Goldman Sachs revised its forecast for commercial real estate losses.
- Imad Naffa takes a look at some of the Top 100 commercial real estate Twitterers as ranked by John Reeder earlier this year.
- The Wall Street Journal reports that Macerich sold an almost 50 percent stake in two of its malls to Heitman LLC for $167.5 million, plus assumed debt.
- Retail Sails confirms that same-store sales posted an increase from last year for the week ending September 26.
- Seeking Alpha has some interesting news on the valuations of assets belonging to bankrupt mall REIT General Growth Properties. The cap rates on the assets are estimated in the 7 percent to 10 percent range, far below what many in the industry expected.
- The CoStar Group reports that outlet centers, which have benefited from their value-oriented image, posted vacancy declines in the second quarter.
- Meanwhile, retail discount king Wal-Mart seems to be slowly taking over the world. The New York Daily News reveals the mega-retailer recently hosted a wedding at one of its stores.
- Wal-Mart’s popularity may be giving other retailers an inferiority complex. The Big Fat Marketing Blog reports that many retail brands have now launched marketing efforts through social networking sites including Twitter and Facebook. But a big percentage of the brands are going online to show they are not behind the times and to make sure they don’t have a negative online image, rather than to increase sales.
Related Topics: Finance, Investment, Management & Leasing, News, Quirky, REITs, Retail, Retail Real Estate, Trends |
by David Bodamer October 1st, 2009
Naming rights deals are nothing new. But this is a new twist. The Mall of America has reached a naming rights deal on the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The stadium, home to baseball’s Minnesota Twins and football’s Minnesota Vikings, will now be known as Mall of America Field. In a way it is fitting since the Mall of America itself sits on the former site of Metropolitan Stadium.
The naming rights will begin with the upcoming Monday night football game between the Vikings and the Green Bay Packers.
The field will be called the Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, and MOA will brand the dome’s exterior and interior signage and other promotional materials. The partnership will begin Oct. 5 and end Feb. 28, 2012.
“Branding the field as Mall of America Field represents an opportunity to share our name and image with an even larger nationwide audience,” said Maureen Bausch, executive vice president of business development at Mall of America. “It also connects two treasured Minnesota brands – Mall of America and the Minnesota Vikings – which adds value to both companies.”
The MOA naming rights begin on gameday between the Green Bay Packers and the Vikings, who host the Packers for Monday Night Football on Oct. 5.
Related Topics: Management & Leasing, News, Quirky, Retail Real Estate |
by David Bodamer October 1st, 2009
Retailer Game Crazy is going to close 200 stores out of the roughly 680 in its chain in the next month.
Joystiq has learned that retailer Game Crazy plans to close 200 of its approximately 680 locations at the end of October. Sources working at Game Crazy stores attached to Hollywood Video locations have told us that the movie rental chain will remain open after their stores’ closures.
Game Crazy’s official statement on the matter: “Movie Gallery, Inc. is currently operating in an unprecedented consumer/retail environment. In order for us to continue to best serve our millions of customers across North America we’re addressing underperforming stores and ensuring that there is sufficient [return on investment] associated with each of these stores going forward. The vast majority of our stores will be unaffected by these efforts.”
For the full list of 2009 store closings, go here or check >About.com’s list.
Related Topics: News, Research, Retail, Trends |
