Canton, Mass. — Destination XL Group, Inc., the world’s leading omni-channel specialty retailer of big-and-tall clothing and shoes, has just converted and rebranded its Casual Male XL store at Keystone Place in Erie, Pa., into a DXL Men’s Big + Tall store. This new conversion from Casual Male XL to DXL Big + Tall offers customers a brand new shopping experience that includes a more spacious environment, elevated visual merchandising, easy-to-shop departments, superior service, expanded brands and styles and more. Destination XL Group, Inc. is the largest retailer of men’s …
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Miami — As the redevelopment of CocoWalk continues to advance, a new confectionery concept with a celebrity following has signed a lease in anticipation of the lifestyle center’s phased reopening, slated to begin in spring 2020. Salt & Straw, the West Coast’s most flavor-provoking ice cream brand, has chosen Coconut Grove and Wynwood for its East Coast debut. The redevelopment of CocoWalk taking place in the heart of the Grove’s commercial district is being led by Federal Realty Investment Trust and partners The Comras Company and Grass River Property, who …
Eatontown, N.J. — Total Comfort Group has hired Cesar Joao as the vice president of national account services and Cary Hudson as the area manager for the South Division. Both team members are part of the company’s recent expansion and will be responsible for overseeing new and existing commercial and retail accounts. Joao and Hudson were handpicked to join the Total Comfort Group team due to their extensive backgrounds in sales and leadership in the HVAC/R industry. Previously, Joao was a territory manager for York International Corporation for 10 years …
Atlanta — On September 9, 2019, Velvet Taco opened its first Atlanta restaurant in Buckhead. The 2,500-square-foot establishment is situated at 77 W. Paces Ferry Rd. within a Whole Foods Market-anchored shopping center. The late-night joint (most locations stay open until 2 a.m.) offers a variety of chicken, beef, pork, fish and vegetarian tacos as well as brunch options. Velvet Taco expects to open a second Atlanta location next year at the Interlock development in West Midtown, according to local media. Based in Dallas, the brand also operates restaurants in …
Gilbert, Ariz. — Evergreen Devco has commenced construction for The Post at Cooley Station, a grocery-anchored shopping center located at the southeast corner of Recker and Williams Field roads in Gilbert, Ariz. Situated on 23 acres, the retail center will feature 23,000 square feet of multi-tenant shop space in three buildings. Anchored by Fry’s Marketplace, the project will also include AutoZone, Taco Bell and Burger King. Currently, the center is 65% preleased, with one junior-anchor pad available. Butler Design Group, Optimus Civil Design Group, Kraemer Engineers and Laskin & Associates …
Jackson, Miss. — Newk’s Eatery has reopened all seven locations in its home market of Jackson, Miss., with a new restaurant prototype inspired by the brand’s ‘Project Strive’ initiative. At the milestone of 15 years since the first unit opened in Oxford, Miss., the brand took pause to seek feedback from guests on what’s important to them. “The purpose of Project Strive is to build from what our guests love about Newk’s and evolve the brand to be more aligned to their lifestyles. It stems from our brand mission to …
Bonita Springs, Fla. — GATES Construction has added Ben Haynie as senior superintendent. Haynie is responsible for daily onsite supervision of GATES’ projects, including quality control, safety, security, project closeout and transition planning. Haynie has over 37 years of construction experience with a wide variety of project types such as commercial, industrial, hospitality, retail construction and much more. Haynie will be based out of GATES Construction’s headquarters in Bonita Springs, Fla. For over 25 years, GATES Construction has provided award-winning construction management, general contracting and design-build services throughout the southeastern …
The Cheesecake Factory Completes Acquisitions of North Italia and Fox Restaurant Concepts
by Katie Lee
Calabasas Hills, Calif. — As previously announced in August, The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has closed the acquisitions of North Italia and Fox Restaurant Concepts (FRC), including Flower Child, for $308 million. The company previously invested $88 million in the North Italia and Flower Child concepts over the last 3 years in anticipation of their purchase. North Italia turns a modern lens on Italian cooking in the upscale, casual-dining segment. All dishes are handmade from scratch daily. The concept currently has 21 locations in 10 states and Washington, D.C. North Italia’s …
Minneapolis — Saint-Gobain’s SageGlass, manufacturer of the world’s smartest dynamic glass, has completed an energy study done in partnership with SCHEELS, a sporting goods and entertainment chain with 27 stores in 12 states. The study compared electricity usage at two SCHEELS locations and found that the store featuring SageGlass, in addition to enhanced building automation HVAC controls, better insulation and LED lighting, benefitted from a 73% decrease in electricity consumption. This reduction resulted in $487,193 in energy cost savings in the store’s first year of operation. In 2017, approximately 24,500 …
Roseville, Minn. — Fifty years after it first opened, Rosedale Center plans to significantly expand the center by redeveloping a part of the property to create new housing, a hotel, a grocery store and other new retail space. JLL, Rosedale’s management team, will soon submit formal plans to the City of Roseville, Minn., to begin the process of review and permits for the proposed expansion. The company hopes to begin initial construction work next year on what will be a phased project. “Rosedale Center is a very successful shopping and …