Carl Muhlstein’s Post

🚀 Wawa to bring 40 new stores to central Pennsylvania by 2029! 🏪 As it continues expanding across the country, the c-store #retailer also remains focused on growing in its home state. •Wawa has revealed plans to open 40 new convenience stores in central Pennsylvania over the next five years, according to a company announcement. •This year, that includes an undisclosed number of locations in Middletown, York, Dover, Williamsport, Hanover and Enola. Wawa also plans to bring up to 12 locations by the end of 2025 to Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lycoming, Northumberland, Union and York counties. •These openings in Pennsylvania support Wawa’s broader plans to reach 1,800 convenience stores in its network around the U.S. by 2030. Over the past few years, most of the news about Wawa’s major #growth plans has been centered around the company’s expansion into new states such as Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and others. However, Wawa’s latest announcement that it will continue growing throughout Pennsylvania shows that the retailer remains focused on reaching new customers even in its home state. This move will bring it notably closer to its rival Sheetz, whose stores are heavily located across central and western Pennsylvania, as well as York-based Rutter’s. Wawa will spend about $7 million building each new store in central Pennsylvania, according to the announcement. It plans to debut about five to seven locations per year over the next half-decade in the region. Once open, each store will employ about 35 team members. On Wednesday, Wawa held a community partnership event at the Pennsylvania State Capitol to preview its expansion plans in the region. The event featured a groundbreaking to mark the start of construction on its first store in central Pennsylvania, located in Middletown. “We are thrilled to break ground on our first store in the region, launch our expansion plans and get closer to our first grand openings in 2024,” President Brian Schaller said in the announcement. Wawa currently operates over 1,000 convenience #stores across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. What do YOU think about this announcement?

"Tenants want to open up stores right now. There's a big push and you read the news, the deep discount folks like TJ, Burlington, Ross, Five Below, we're doing a lot of deals with them. They're opening up a lot of stores. Whereas in the past you were competing against new development coming into your market. Price of construction is very high right now. There's not that much new development going on within the markets that we're in. So a lot of those retailers are trying to get into your site versus going into a new development project. And a lot of these retailers... they need to open stores. They've told Wall Street that they're going to open stores. So in order to fill that store count, they are potentially conceding on things where they may not have conceded in the past on facade heights, on signage rights, on exclusions. I had an instance this week where where a national retailer conceded on something that I don't think they would have conceded on three years ago. And it was because they have a demand to open up stores and they promised Wall Street and their shareholders that they're going to open up stores. We're not short-sighted. We don't want to win just to win with the tenant. We want to really create something special with the tenant and build trust so they'll do multiple deals with us." Retail continues to be really strong by most accounts. This week on The Source of Commercial Real Estate, Fred Battisti, Jr. with First National Realty Partners explains some trends and patterns that he is seeing as he leases up space to national tenants.

Big Lots has just announced the closure of about 135 stores across more than two dozen states, more than triple the number it originally planned to shutter. The majority of these closures will occur in CA, with nearly 60 stores shutting down, followed by 12 in Washington and 11 in AZ. Its approximately 1,400 stores cover around 46.6 million square feet. This space could become available if the company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy or, in the worst-case scenario, faces liquidation. This year, numerous retailers have announced plans to close some or all of their stores, including Walgreens, Rite Aid, 99 Cents Only, Macy's, Family Dollar, Express, Rue21, Red Lobster, and Stop & Shop. So far in 2024, major U.S. retailers have reported 3,666 store closures and 4,319 store openings, marking a 7.1% increase in closures and a 0.5% decrease in openings compared to last year. Even with the U.S. retail vacancy rate at a low 4.1%, I have noticed several backfill tenants active in the market including: EOS Fitness, Crunch Fitness, Planet Fitness, Harbor Freight, Big 5, WSS, Grocery Outlet, Trader Joe's, Sprouts, Northgate Market, Vallarta, H-Mart, Dollar Stores, Savers, Goodwill, Salon Academy, T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods, Burlington and Ross.

San Francisco Macy’s to close in devastating blow to downtown By Laura Waxmann Updated Feb 27, 2024 10:33 a.m. Macy’s will close its massive flagship store in Union Square, San Francisco officials said Tuesday, a major setback to the city’s premier shopping district and its larger downtown recovery efforts during an election year. “The process to undergo the sale of their building to a new owner with their own vision for this site will take time, and Macy’s will stay open for the foreseeable future and people will remain employed at the store,” Breed said. “Macy’s has expressed to me their commitment to remaining a part of Union Square and our City while they undergo this transition. The City will continue to work closely with Macy’s and any potential new owner to ensure this iconic location continues to serve San Francisco for decades to come.” Concerns about the future of the store were rampant early Tuesday morning after Macy’s Inc. announced during an earnings call that it plans to shutter 150 “underproductive” stores across the country through 2026, including 50 by the end of the year. The move came in response to dropping sales and consumer demand shifting online. The company’s investor relations team declined to release the list of stores being closed. It was not immediately clear if the store would stay open beyond the 2026 deadline if the company does not find a buyer for the property. The company also owns the Bloomingdale’s in San Francisco’s downtown mall but it was unclear if that store would be affected by Tuesday’s moves. Around 400 employees work at the Macy’s, according to their union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5. Macy’s massive, 400,000-square-foot Union Square store — which spans nearly an entire block fronting Geary Street between Powell and Stockton streets — is the company’s last outpost in San Francisco. Macy’s presence in the city dates to 1947 and its store is a landmark on the south side of Union Square. Its loss marks one of the biggest retail closures the city has ever seen, on top of the loss of a nearby Nordstrom that had been open since 1988 and dozens of smaller retailers since the pandemic. The timing comes as Breed faces a tough reelection campaign this year, with voters worried about the city’s struggling downtown and a looming budget deficit. https://lnkd.in/gRHwMvWX

What are the economic repercussions of retail anchor closures for both the retail center and the host community? When a department store in a mall closes, customer counts can drop by 20-25%, with a correlating reduction in a mall's valuation by 50% or more. I offer my insights to the great Luther Turmelle in his Middletown Press article, which helps illuminate the current scenario unfolding in Connecticut retail centers. "The current state of brick-and-mortar retail stores has left mall operators with fewer choices to fill the vacancies created when a department store or mall anchor closes. There are fewer viable replacements." Macy's, Lord + Taylor, and Sears have left gaping holes that are tough to fill. As I mentioned in a post last week, municipal budgets (schools!) rely on the real estate taxes generated by viable shopping centers; Walmart and Amazon must pay their share in full. Link: #consumerbehavior #retailindustry

💡 99 Cents Only Stores Exit the Market 💡 Two words come to mind at the sight of this headline, the same two words we thought to ourselves following Dollar Tree's most recent announcement...Interesting. Opportunity. Interesting that just 9 or 10 years ago people were lined up at our newest 99 Cents Only Store location on Rancho. Interestingly enough, around this same time, Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar for more than $8 billion after a bidding war with leading competitor Dollar General (now closing 600 of their Family Dollar locations across the US). Interesting timing for both discount retailers to show their cards (99 Cents Only Stores admitting having a worse hand than Dollar Tree, for now). Opportunity lies ahead in our market for someone/something new ("demand has shifted" hardly accounts for the families/communities in Las Vegas who rely on lower price points the 99 provided). Not to mention the 350+ employees/families across the Valley directly affected by the 99's closure. Interestingly enough, one could argue those same families/communities, are just now seeing retailers strike at the opportunity Kmart left behind from its exit in the late 2000s. Interestingly enough, a company that rose to the top of discount retailing using the power of "the magic #99", since 2003 has only stocked 15% of its stores with an item priced at 99 cents or less. An Interesting Opportunity awaits at +/- 18 locations across the Valley in over 400,000 SF of retail space. An Interesting Opportunity for landlords to get creative awaits at +/- 8 locations across the Valley whose properties the 99's exit will leave 80 - 100% vacant. Looking forward to the interesting ways in which the 99 Cents Only Stores' exit plays out in our market. #99centsonlystores #the99 #retailCRE #CRE

Macy's might close its big store in San Francisco's Union Square. This could happen in 2025 or later as part of their plan to shut down some stores that aren't doing so great. They want to focus on making the stores they keep even better and opening smaller ones. Macy's has been trying to keep up with shoppers who want different things now and areas where it's tough for stores to do well. They're planning to close about 150 stores by 2026, but they'll keep about 350 open and make them nicer. In the real estate biz, we often see similar challenges and changes. At Cudd Realty, we're all about helping small businesses and our community in North Texas. When big retail stores like Macy's change their plans, it can make new opportunities for local businesses and real estate. That's where we can help figure out what's best for everyone. Thinking about how changes in the retail world could open up new real estate chances? Wanting to get the inside scoop on how it might impact your plans? Reach out and let's have a conversation about what's happening and where you could fit in. Call or text me, Michael Cudd, at 940-595-0138. Let's turn change into an opportunity together. #CuddRealty #NorthTexasRealEstateNews #RetailChanges #CommunityGrowth #RealEstateOpportunities

Macy's might close its big store in San Francisco's Union Square. This could happen in 2025 or later as part of their plan to shut down some stores that aren't doing so great. They want to focus on making the stores they keep even better and opening smaller ones. Macy's has been trying to keep up with shoppers who want different things now and areas where it's tough for stores to do well. They're planning to close about 150 stores by 2026, but they'll keep about 350 open and make them nicer. In the real estate biz, we often see similar challenges and changes. At Cudd Realty, we're all about helping small businesses and our community in North Texas. When big retail stores like Macy's change their plans, it can make new opportunities for local businesses and real estate. That's where we can help figure out what's best for everyone. Thinking about how changes in the retail world could open up new real estate chances? Wanting to get the inside scoop on how it might impact your plans? Reach out and let's have a conversation about what's happening and where you could fit in. Call or text me, Michael Cudd, at 940-595-0138. Let's turn change into an opportunity together. #CuddRealty #NorthTexasRealEstateNews #RetailChanges #CommunityGrowth #RealEstateOpportunities