Shopping Centers Today

MAY 2012

Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

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you look at the emerging markets like India, China and Latin America, they have been very stable over the last five or six years with respect to M&A;," he said. "There is a huge customer base there, and deals in those emerging economies are going to be active and growing." Two noteworthy international deals from last year include Wal-Mart's $2.4 billion acquisition of a major- ity stake in South African retailer Massmart, and Target's purchase of 189 Zellers' leases in Canada. Growth was the goal in both deals, but for U.S. retailers looking to grow domestically, the trick is to figure out which of their competitors have good growth pros- pects and are worth buying, and which ones could vanish altogether. "There are still a lot of retailers out there that are not cutting it, but they are not nec- One thing that the recession reinforced to everyone is that store growth does not go on forever. A lot of the retailers are hitting maturation. Take Advantage of the Economic Climate Change. Pursue positive tax strategies. The recent downturn created an unstable real estate market, and firms with certain investments could be paying more property tax than necessary. Crowe Horwath LLP tax specialists can help you control tax liabilities by reviewing assessed values for inequitable treatment by the taxing jurisdictions. To learn more about maximizing your return on investment or for a complimentary copy of our 2011 Survey of Property Tax Assessors, visit crowehorwath.com/proptaxblog or contact: Joe Calvanico 312.899.5491 joseph.calvanico@crowehorwath.com essarily going to be acquisition tar- gets," Cooper said. "In fact, they are probably going to go out, because there is a fair amount of inherent, excess capacity out there in the malls. Also, many retailers have recognized that traffic at the malls is down. They have to be more discerning as to which of those locations are actually going to work for their concepts." Likewise, the strategy for many pri- vate equity firms used to be "grow the store count, and get out with a nice return." But today many chains are trimming underperforming stores, not opening new ones. "The pri- vate equity community is being very cautious about what they do in the retail world," Cooper said. "The big is- sue is: What is the exit strategy? One thing that the recession reinforced to everyone is that store growth does not go on forever. A lot of the retail- ers are hitting maturation. It is great to be able to buy a company, but how are you going to get a return on it?" Throw in wildcards like high gas Audit | Tax | Advisory | Risk | Performance Crowe Horwath LLP is an independent member of Crowe Horwath International, a Swiss verein. Each member firm of Crowe Horwath International is a separate and independent legal entity. Crowe Horwath LLP and its affiliates are not responsible or liable for any acts or omissions of Crowe Horwath International or any other member of Crowe Horwath International and specifically disclaim any and all responsibility or liability for acts or omissions of Crowe Horwath International or any other Crowe Horwath International member. Accountancy services in Kansas and North Carolina are rendered by Crowe Chizek LLP, which is not a member of Crowe Horwath International. © 2012 Crowe Horwath LLP TAX12035 prices, unemployment and the rise of "show-rooming" — the practice whereby consumers visit a store to physically examine merchandise they then buy online at a lower price — and the prospect of acquiring a retail busi- ness of any sort starts to seem more daunting. "Retail more than any other 144 SCT / MAY 2012

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