Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/231459
• Abercrombie & Fitch will set aside the Gilly Hicks concept it had introduced in January 2008, closing all 28 standalone Gilly Hicks stores by the end of the coming first quarter. U.S. stores across all the company's brands will continue to close, at a rate of 40 or 50 per year, according to CEO Mike Jeffries; this continues a trajectory that has seen the company's U.S. store count fall from about 1,000 in 2009 to roughly 840 today. On the international front, Abercrombie & Fitch aims to expand its portfolio of about 150 stores across 19 countries. The focus will be on China and Japan, because Europe has reached a saturation point, Jeffries said. The company will enter the Middle East this year and seeks franchise partners to open in Brazil, Mexico and Russia. • Neiman Marcus Group plans to use the roughly $100 million it expects to raise from an IPO to double the number of its outlet stores and also to expand its portfolio of Cusp stores over the next five years, according to an SEC filing. Private equity firms TPG Capital and Warburg Pincus bought Neiman Marcus Group in 2005 for $5.1 billion and set about closing roughly a dozen full-line stores and halting the expansion of the Cusp concept. Now expansion plans are on the table again and expectations are that the improving economy will spur enough investor interest to garner a big return on investment. 32 SCT / J a n u a r y 2 0 1 4 most are using New York City as an entry point, he says. With some luxury chains reporting sales softness last year, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Gucci and Louis Vuitton are tightening their belts, while Prada is slowing store development activity, sources say. Richemont Group — owner of Cartier, IWC, Vacheron Constantin and Van Cleef & Arpels — has scaled back storeopening plans by half to roughly 50. On the food-andbeverage front, chefdriven, fast-food and casual concepts are in strong demand, according to Michael Phillips, COO of Atlanta-based Jamestown Properties. Qdoba Mexican Grill, which plans to open 120 U.S. stores through this year, is among these, and so is Chipotle Mexican Grill. Big Smoke Burger, dominant in its home city of Toronto, is planning about 70 U.S. restaurants, and also units in Canada and the Middle East. Firehouse Subs says it intends to blanket New York City with 60 franchises over the coming decade. California-based Menchie's Frozen Yogurt, which opened 150 shops last year, has about 400 more in development throughout the U.S., Canada, the Middle East and Asia. The Egg & I, a Denver-based breakfast-lunch house, is scouting locations in Florida, Georgia and Texas, with 17 units slated for midyear. Restaurant development remains robust because it is protected from online competition and because it delivers "a prime experience," says William Di Santo, president of Illinois-based Englewood Construc- tion, on his construction blog. Many eateries are going into "large impressive mixed-use construction projects with a considerable amount of retail," Di Santo wrote. Regional chains are flexing their expansion muscle. Daily Juice, an Austin organic-juice chain, is out to open about a dozen shops in the Dallas–Fort Worth and Houston areas combined through 2016. East Lansing, Mich.–based Biggby Coffee is making plans for about 50 franchises in Michigan. Dunkin' Donuts is looking to open about 100 Texas shops through 2019. Several trendy retail brands are seeking strategic growth in the U.S. this year, according to Phillips, including apparel sellers Alice and Olivia, Billy Reid, Rag & Bone and Sid Mashburn. Landlords will continue to rotate popups into their models, according to Phillips, not just to fill space, but also because those provide a fresh shopping experience and help showcase the latest products. "This practice will become an important part of how retailers grow, and should be considered a key strategy going forward," said Phillips. Elsewhere, of the 19 stores Nordstrom is making plans for this year, 16 belong to the chain's discount format, Nordstrom Rack. But in Canada, a full-line store the company has pegged for Calgary's Chinook Centre this fall will be followed by full-line openings also in Ottawa and Vancouver next year and two Toronto stores in 2016. Under Armour is planning an 8,000-square-foot flagship in New York City's SoHo district this spring. Convenience-store behemoth QuickTrip will be opening its 700th store this year, having opened 100 stores in less than two years. Competitor RaceTrac, with roughly 600 stores across 12 states, plans to roll out 100 stores in Florida, in the Orlando and Tampa markets alone, by 2018. And 7-Eleven says it may double its North American presence over