http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court Industry news, views and occasional strange stuff. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:30:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The credit crisis continues to deepen. Yet another large development has secured financing. This time it's the mammoth CityCenter project in Las Vegas. MGM Mirage said Monday that it completed the first stage of its $3 billion financing package for CityCenter, a $9.2 billion Las Vegas Strip casino project being ... http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/2008/10/06/mgms-citycenter-secures-financing/ This is interesting. Forever 21, unlike many other retailers, seems to be in a strong position with wealthy sales and a pile of cash to invest. Even more interesting is the fact that it wants to open big box locations as opposed to its more traditional smaller stores. As a ... http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/2008/10/06/forever-21-wants-mervyns-real-estate/ The New York Times had a rather ominous analysis of consumer spending yesterday. In response to the falling value of their homes and high gasoline prices, Americans have become more frugal all year. But in recent weeks, as the financial crisis reverberated from Wall Street to Washington, consumers appear to ... http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/2008/10/06/another-look-at-consumers/ Quoting Green Street Advisors, Bloomberg says commercial real estate is facing a "reckoning." This is one reason why it's so hard to get a read on the true state of the sector. On one hand, we hear a lot of arguments that commercial real estate didn't experience the same kind ... http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/2008/10/06/commercial-real-estate-faces-reckoning/ Hypo Real Estate Holding was rescued over the weekend. This is an ominous sign for commercial real estate because Hypo was a big player in financing the sector. At least part of the problem seems to be how Hypo was funding itself as opposed to this stemming from its pool ... http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/2008/10/06/hypo-rescued/ In the retail sector, vacancy rates have climbed and rent increases have slowed for the past year. The vacancy rate at malls in the top 76 U.S. markets rose to 6.6% in the third quarter, up from 6.3% in the previous quarter, to its highest level since late 2001, according ... http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/2008/10/06/vacancies-continue-to-rise-2/ Despite the worsening credit crisis, some REITs seem to have been able to line up fairly significant financing packages. So it seems not everybody can get a loan these days, but the market isn't completely frozen either. Cedar Shopping Centers got a $77.7 million deal done. Meanwhile, Macerich has lined ... http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/2008/10/03/some-reits-still-lining-up-financing/ Executives from restaurant chains Darden Restaurants Inc, California Pizza Kitchen Inc and Buffalo Wild Wings Inc said on Thursday they are seeing prime real estate open up as tenants back out of deals. "The availability of quality sites is greater than it has been -- more than we were thinking ... http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/2008/10/03/restaurants-see-prime-locations/ Sears, Roebuck is looking to grow home-goods sales by adding stores away from malls as shoppers flock to new retail centers. That off-mall strategy includes more dealer stores located in smaller, rural markets, and home appliance showrooms in big cities. Sears has about 860 dealer stores and 24 appliance showrooms, in addition ... http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/2008/10/03/sears-expands-off-mall-strategy/ Some analysts were already expecting the weakest sales growth for the holiday season in 24 years, and with uncertainty roiling the banking system and a teetering economy, they figure Americans will make their lists and check them three or four times. "I haven't seen this kind of fright since 9/11," said ... http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/2008/10/03/financial-crisis-moves-to-the-mall/