Retail & Shopping Centers

NEWS - Retail & Shopping Centers

by Ray Steele
SBJ Editor

May 17 - Cadillac is back in Savannah. Vaden Automotive Group, which already sells the Cadillac brand in Brunswick and Beaufort, S.C., has been awarded Savannah's Cadillac franchise by General Motors, seven months after Backus Cadillac closed it's doors on Victory Drive.

Jane Vaden Thatcher, principal of the group and daughter of founder Dan Vaden, says it was always a dream of her father's to be a Cadillac dealer. She says Vaden will have Cadillacs on their lot on Abercorn by the end of this week to go along with vehicles from Chevrolet, Nissan, Volkswagen and Suzuki. Vaden has been a GM dealer since 1968.

GM had originally said it would award a new Savannah Cadillac franchise within weeks of the closing of Backus last September 30. But the automaker instead waited as it continued to repay bailout loans from the U.S. and Canadian governments, which was completed late last month. GM received approximately $50 billion in bailout money, including $7 billion in direct government loans and $43 billion in bailout cash from U.S. taxpayers.

Backus was essentially forced to shut down after GM phased out its Pontiac brand earlier in 2009, leaving Backus with only the struggling Cadillac franchise. Backus had been operating on Victory Drive since 1955.

NEWS - Retail & Shopping Centers

The company that owns the Oglethorpe Mall, General Growth Properties, announced progress in structuring its debt last week, with hopes to come out of bankruptcy by mid-2010.

The company filed a plan of reorganization and related disclosure statements last week with the Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York for its 92 regional shopping centers, office properties, community centers and related subsidiaries for approximately $9.7 billion of secured mortgage loans.

The amount exceeds the previously announced agreements in principal to restructure $8.9 billion of mortgage loans, as GGP has reached additional consensual agreements in principal with certain secured mortgage lenders since the prior announcement on Nov. 19.

Confirmation of the plan of reorganization is currently scheduled for Dec. 15, 2009. The plan of reorganization provides that all undisputed claims against the emerging debtors for pre-petition goods and services will be paid in full. “We are extremely pleased to take this important step of filing the plan of reorganization for these debtors,” said Thomas H. Nolan, Jr., president and chief operating officer of GGP.

“Our successful completion of agreements in principal with additional mortgage lenders shows our continued progress. We will continue to work with our other secured mortgage lenders and are hopeful that we will reach additional consensual agreements quickly,” said Nolan.

The Oglethorpe Mall is anchored by several retailers that are exclusive to the market area, including Belks, Sears, JCPenney, Macy's, Forever 21, Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, Macaroni Grill and Stein Mart. New retailers that have recently opened there include S & K Menswear, Aldo, aerie, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Select Comfort, Hollister Co., Cache, Yankee Candle, Aeropostale, Gymboree, and Charlotte Russe. Oglethorpe Mall also includes an 800-seat food court, family restrooms and a soft play area.

Trading in General Growth Properties, Inc. was suspended on April 16, 2009, which the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with the stock now available only on the Pink Sheets.

NEWS - Retail & Shopping Centers

JDH Capital LLC is Developer

10/26/2009 - When Food Lion LLC. opened its newest 35,000-square-foot store on Oct. 14 at 2208 E. DeRenne Avenue and Skidaway Road in a new shopping center on Savannah’s east side – now called DeRenne Plaza by developer JDH Capital –  it was a positive lift for an aging neighborhood.

And it was another strategic move by Food Lion in the Savannah area. The DeRenne store is a new style prototypical store for Food Lion with 34,928 square feet.

Last year, Food Lion unveiled “fresh new stores in the Savannah,” and held grand re-openings at eight stores after undergoing renovations for a number of months,  according to Delony Spraggins, Food Lion’s director of Market Renewal and Prototype.

The newly redesigned stores now feature new meat, deli and produce department, an expanded wine selection, as well as Western Union and Coinstar services, Rug Doctor rentals and floral department. Several stores also feature a Nature’s Place organic and natural foods section, as well as expanded international offerings, he explained.

To be a good neighbor, the company gave the first 200 customers a bag of groceries in reusable grocery bags. According to store manager Candy Munn, customers were lined up as early at 7:00 a.m. to be the first.

She has plans to hire 53 employees in total, which is resulting in 35 new jobs in the area for the company – shifting some employees from other stores.  The company began hiring in late August to be ready for the opening. Staffing levels will fluctuate, based on the season, according to the company.

In 2008, Food Lion, was named Retailer of the Year by Grocery Headquarters magazine.

The eight remodeled stores in the greater Savannah area are:
• 100 Eisenhower Drive, Savannah
• 103-H General Screven Way, Hinesville
• 1017 East Highway 80, Suite 13, Pooler
• 10 Sams Point Road, Beaufort
• 8914 White Bluff Road, Savannah
• 591 South Columbia St., Rincon
• 1008 Fording Island Road, Bluffton
• 313 Laurel Bay Road, Beaufort
Food Lion is also seeking to close some stores, and is currently trying to sell its Garden City store on U.S. Highway 21, listed for $5 million.  The broker is Seabolt Brokers with Marjorie Gordon as the listing agent.

Food Lion LLC is a subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG) and operates more than 1,300 supermarkets, either directly or through affiliated entities, under the names of Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar Food, Harveys and Reid’s.

Plaza’s Developer
JDP Capital LLC of Charlotte, N.C., is the developer of DeRenne Plaze and has completed a number of stores for Food Lion this year.  JDH owns, manages and leases properties throughout the Eastern United States, with a focus on open-air grocery and retail centers.

For DeRenne Plaza the property manager is Kelly Clark, and leasing manager is Andrew Bell.

There are more than 75,000 people within three miles of the new plaza, and seven Savannah schools as well as Savannah State University within three miles, as well.

No other tenants have been contracted, however, so far. The plaza has four storefronts built, with a total of 4,500 square feet,  and an outparcel on the corner of DeRenne Avenue and Skidaway Road designed for a bank, restaurant or drugstore use, according to JDH Capital.

NEWS - Retail & Shopping Centers

SBJ Contributor

As beach weather gives way to autumn briskness, Tybee merchants will roll out a welcome mat along the city’s sidewalks Oct. 24 in hopes of drawing visitors seeking bargains rather than surf.
Island residents will be joining in as well, offering household goods and other items for sale at the Island Dentistry lot and Strand lot.
The retail celebration – dubbed Sale-ing Day (aka Islandwide Sidewalk Sale) – is an initiative of Tybee’s Better Hometown Communities campaign. Sale-ing Day will bring visitors and their dollars to town while also generating community cohesiveness, say organizers, citing a key goal of the Hometown Communities campaign.
Residents will get table space at the Island Dentistry and Strand lots on a first come basis. A table reservation is $15 if made before Oct. 19 and $20 after that. Reservations forms are available at City Hall. For details call Judy Malins at 786-6556 or Chantel Morgan at 844-9771.
Merchants are asked to put their sale offerings on tables outside of their businesses from 10 a.m. until their closing time. Restaurants are encouraged to join in the hospitality by offering menu specials throughout the day.
Participating businesses will be listed in a Sale-ing Day brochure that will be available at City Hall two days before the event and at the resident lots and participating store locations throughout the day Oct. 26.
Money collected for the resident table reservations will go toward promoting event, organizers say.
Look for similar citywide retail promotions to continue through the year  as the city continues its quest for Better Hometown Communities’ certification. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs awards the designation to communities of under 5,000 population that meet criteria for revitalizing commercial districts, strengthening their tax base, preserving  historic structures and instilling a sense of community among residents.
Cities that have the certification are more competitive for grant funding for municipal planning, economic development and historic preservation, said Chantel Morton, Tybee’s Better Hometown coordinator.
In addition to visitor draws like Lights on for Tybee during the holidays and sidewalk retail promotions such as the Sale-ing Day, the Better Hometown campaign has worked to address the needs of businesses on both ends of the island. On the south end the effort helped to reach a compromise on trash carts and to establish 2-hour parking. On the north end, the effort has focused on adding crosswalks to enhance pedestrian safety.
The effort marked a milestone in March with creation of a governing board.  Cullen Chambers of the Tybee Historical Society is chair. Other members are Maureen Grindstaff of Mogo's Scooters; Mel Gordon of Atlantis Inn, Judy Malins of High Tide Surf Shop; Erin Sheldon of Tybee Trees Event Center; Patricia Miller Wann of the Fine Arts Commission; and John Yarbrough of Spanky's Beachside. Dick Smith is City Council liaison and an ex-officio board member.

NEWS - Retail & Shopping Centers

The economy appears to have finally caught up with Citi Trends, the Savannah-based retail clothing company, that is publicly traded at (NASDAQ: CTRN).
The company reported a second quarter net loss of $69,000 compared with net income of $2,846,000 last year.  Second quarter sales decreased 3.5 percent, and comparable store sales decreased 12.4 percent.
Total sales in the second quarter ended August 1, 2009 decreased 3.5 percent to $111.6 million compared with $115.7 million in the second quarter ended August 2, 2008.
The company believes that last year’s stimulus checks had a direct impact. “Sales and earnings in this year’s second quarter were adversely affected by a difficult comparison to the second quarter of 2008 when our customers’ spending increased due to the government stimulus checks.  As is typical when comparable store sales are negative, gross margin was lower in this year’s second quarter due to higher merchandise markdowns; however, the overall decline in gross margin was limited to 60 basis points due to continued improvement in inventory shrinkage results,” according to the company’s SEC filings.
“Selling, general and administrative expenses were managed tightly, increasing only 5.7 percent, even with a 13 percent increase in store selling square footage since last year’s second quarter,” the company stated. .
Citi Trends continues to open new stores, including eight new openings and one expansion in the second quarter, but also closed three under performing stores, resulting in a total store count of 370 at the end of the quarter.
For the first first half of fiscal 2009, sales increased 7.6 percent to $254.7 million compared with $236.7 million in the first half of fiscal 2008. 
The company estimates that 2009 earnings will be in a range of $1.28 to $1.33 per diluted share which includes an anticipated 2009 comparable store sales increase of approximately 1 percent, and expects to increase selling square footage by at least 15 percent in 2009.

NEWS - Retail & Shopping Centers

Rec Warehouse has opened two new “factory direct” outlets, in Savannah and Gainesville, GA. The company sells home recreational products at low prices, and is the largest retailer of above ground swimming pools, portable spas, billiard tables, tanning beds, gas grills, and patio furniture in the United States. 
\Headquartered in Lake Mary, Fl., the company was founded in 1974 and now has 35 factory direct outlets in the southeastern United States, and a wholesale division which supplies hundreds of pool and spa dealers.

NEWS - Retail & Shopping Centers

Twenty entrepreneurs have advanced to the second stage of Forbes.com's third annual "Boost Your Business" editorial contest, available at www.forbes.com/byb.

Visitors to Forbes.com can now vote for the five companies most poised for growth among the 20 semi-finalists. Their submissions, including self-recorded 30-second "elevator-pitch" videos, are available for review at www.forbes.com/byb. Voting for this round runs through September 30.

Contestants represent businesses in various industries--from nurse-concierge services and online book rental, to enterprise software and yoga accessories--and are headquartered around the country.

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