Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/62026
THE COMMON AREA OPEN-AIR CENTERS SHOW SIGNS OF RECOVERY, SEARS SELLS SOME STORES, BROKERS HOP ON THE BUS Starbucks gets juices flowing Starbucks opened its first Evolution Fresh shop in March, in Bellevue, Wash. The shop, which sells juices, wraps, salad and soup, has many LEED-certified features, including locally sourced materials, reused and recycled components, and various water- and energy-saving elements. Starbucks says it plans to offer Evolution Fresh juices in its existing coffee shops and to begin rolling out the Evolution Fresh concept nationwide. Coupon clippers The Towbes Group, of Santa Barbara, Calif., boasts that it has hit on a way to help its retail and apartment tenants alike: by offering the latter discount coupons over the Internet, redeemable at those retailers renting some 200,000 square feet of Towbes' space in Cal- ifornia. "Residents benefit from discounts that are not avail- able to the rest of the general public, and the businesses benefit from Towbes' driv- ing customers to our doors," said Peter Heth, co-founder of Backyard Bowls, which has opened its second restaurant, at Calle Real Shopping Center. "I've never heard of anyone ever doing a program like this." Americans spending more on pets Americans are splurging on their pets, and this is a growth opportunity for retailers. Spending for food and supplies, medicine, trips to the vet, grooming and the like is up 5.3 percent year on year, to nearly $51 billion, according to the American Pet Products Association. New pet products and a rise in the number of pet-shop entrepreneurs helped drive the activity, the trade group says. Pet services accounted for the largest increase, up 7.9 percent over the year before, to $3.8 bil- lion. The association is pro- jecting that this category will see a larger increase than the others this year, up perhaps 8.4 percent, representing some $4.1 billion. Sup- plies and medications grew significantly too, at some $11.7 billion, up 7.6 percent year on year. Pet sales and adoptions are flat, though, says Bob Vetere, president of the association. Some 62 percent of U.S. households own a pet, which equates to about 73 million homes. The association is projecting an increase in pet spending of 3.8 percent this year. Canadian pension funds go shopping Pension funds in Canada have been investing in retail properties around the globe over the past year. Last spring the Canadian Retire- ment Investment Fund, and Oxford Properties Group (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Systems) teamed up with Related Cos. to develop a 12 million-square-foot mixed- use project in New York City's Hudson Yards. At the same time, the Canada Pen- sion Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) formed a venture with Kimco Realty to buy neighborhood shopping centers in the U.S. Then in December CPPIB and Ancar Ivanhoe Shopping Centres each bought a 24.5 percent stake in Botafogo Praia Shopping, a beachfront mall in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, of which Ancar already held 51 percent. And CPPIB has struck a deal with Westfield Group to buy 45 percent of a 12-mall, 13.5 million-square- foot portfolio for $1.85 billion. Those malls are all in California except for Westfield Annapolis (Md.) and Westfield Southcenter, which is in Tukwila, Wash. Vacancies drop at U.S. open-air centers The U.S. vacancy rate for open-air centers eased in the first quarter, to 10.9 percent, from 11 percent in the previous quarter, ac- cording to market research firm Reis. Vacancies at these properties have hovered at 11 percent since the second quarter of last year. The average asking rent at open-air centers rose 0.1 MAY 2012 / SCT 21