The most pressing problem facing our great state, says Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball in his latest column, is "preserving every penny of tax credits, tax exemptions, tax loopholes and direct cash subsidies as well as every other corporate welfare program required to keep every business in this state from fleeing to Texas or Florida—the cost to Louisiana's bloated and unbalanced books be damned." The most recent case of this "corporate welfare," he says, is the Metro Council's approval of a $7.8 million tax incentive deal for Costco so it will locate a warehouse store at the intersection of Airline Highway and Interstate 12. The warehouse retailer will "soon ring up an estimated $150 million to $200 million in annual area sales," thanks to the Metro Council, Ball says. "The move into retail is new for Baton Rouge, which historically reserves its largesse for the hotel industry. Ever since tax increment financing made the rebirth of the downtown Capitol House...
The three great issues of our time in the Capital Region are these: 1) protecting our turf in the global economy by using any government means necessary to score jaw-dropping wins in the retail and hotel sectors; 2) whether the luring of big-box behemoth Costco secures Baton Rouge a much-coveted seat at the exclusive table of world-class cities (out of our way, Venice!); and 3) the future of City Park— more specifically, its par-32 golf course.
A camera captured the proud moment two decades ago: Then-Commissioner of Agriculture Bob Odom and a handful of executives from Louisiana's most prominent food manufacturing firms joined forces to launch the “Certified Cajun” logo in hopes of collectively distinguishing authentic Louisiana products on grocery store shelves.
In an effort to lure Costco to town, East Baton Rouge Parish has green-lighted what will be the parish's first economic development district for a retailer, triggering protests from critics who futilely proclaimed, “Retail is not economic development.”
A planned Costco Wholesale store in Baton Rouge took a step toward fruition on Wednesday when the Metro Council approved a roughly $7.8 million incentive package for the retailer, a move supporters say is critical to making Baton Rouge a world-class city. "I don't know that you can have a world-class city, in my mind right now, without a Costco," says Patrick Mulhearn, director of studio operations at Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge at Celtic Media Centre. "And I know this because the California people and the people that come in from all over the country, they always ask me, 'Where's your Costco?' Well, we don't have one." The members-only warehouse retailer plans to build a 150,000-square-foot warehouse at the intersection of Airline Highway and Interstate 12 on the site of a former Coca-Cola bottling plant. The project had been on hold as Costco pushed for the incentive deal to help with road and infrastructure improvements at the site. William Daniel, chief administrative officer for...
The incentive deal that the Metro Council is considering approving for a proposed Costco Wholesale store in Baton Rouge is about $1 million larger than the roughly $6 million deal the store got from the New Orleans City Council last year. "It's very similar," says William Daniel, Mayor Kip Holden's chief administrative officer. "I think they had a location that had [fewer] challenges than we have, so New Orleans may not have had to do as much in infrastructure improvements." Like the $7 million deal the Baton Rouge council is considering, New Orleans officials approved a deal for Costco that rebated local sales taxes and provided for infrastructure improvements. Costco had requested as much as $9 million in incentives in New Orleans. If the deal is approved Wednesday by the Metro Council, the city-parish will provide a $7 million sales tax rebate, $5.5 million of which would go toward infrastructure and road improvements in the area. The other $1.5 million would go toward the $4.5...
Louisiana restaurateurs and retailers who have been holding off on a renovation could soon get some encouraging news. A measure is winding its way through Congress that would permanently extend the 15-year recovery period for qualified improvements on restaurant and retail properties. Proponents, including local restaurant owner Jim Urdiales, say the extension would spur construction. "If you guarantee a 15-year schedule over 30 years, we'll see some restaurants who were putting this off from last year go ahead and do it now," says Urdiales, who owns Mestizo Restaurant. The 15-year depreciation schedule would otherwise expire at the end of this year, giving some restaurant owners heartburn about moving forward with needed renovations. The National Restaurant Association estimates that restaurants undergo renovations every six to eight years just to stay current and combat the effects of daily high traffic. Sen. Robert Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, filed the measure last month.
Gambino's Bakery is moving into Panache Plaza. The world-renown baker of king cakes plans to move its Essen Lane location into the fledgling retail center at 8342 Perkins Road, between Essen and Bluebonnet Boulevard, by the end of the summer, says Gambino's manager Paul Scelfo. He says the new 2,100-square-foot space will be "more suitable to our customers' wishes, as well as our needs." That means a bigger retail area and a smaller kitchen. "The location we're in now is equipped for a lot more than what we do," he says. The New Orleans-based bakery has been in the Essen Lane location for almost three years, Scelfo says. —April Castro
Costco is interested in the former site of a Coca-Cola bottling facility off Airline Highway, and East Baton Rouge Parish officials are pushing for a tax incremental financing district to help close the deal. Patrick Mulhearn, who directs studio operations for Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge at the nearby Celtic Media Centre, is among those hoping the deal goes through. He says Celtic already is leasing a building on the site, and Celtic tenant Pixomondo is moving in. "We have gone ahead and renovated it, with the understanding that we're going to be able to acquire it," Mulhearn says. The problem is that Celtic only is interested in about six or seven acres of land, but Coca-Cola wants to sell the approximately 26-acre tract all at once. If Costco buys the land, Mulhearn says, then Celtic could buy what it wants from Costco. Celtic may build a mill shop on the new property, where sets could be constructed and decorated. Universal Pictures has booked space at Raleigh for a possible...
The Bible and Book Center at 4242 Government St. will close its doors for good on Saturday after 54 years in business. Competition from online retailers and big-box stores, which carry many of the Christian book series that have been a main staple of the shop's merchandise mix, have taken a toll, and the family-owned business can no longer compete, says owner Janet Dearman. "When we bought the business, there weren't any chain bookstores in town," says Dearman, whose parents, Jim and Billie Sykora, bought the store from its original owners in 1980. "Once Sam's and Walmart came into the market, things started to change." Online retailers exacerbated the problem, then Hurricane Gustav in 2008 forced the shop to remain closed for a week. "That was sort of the nail in the coffin," says Dearman. "We never really recovered from that." The Bible and Book Center is the last independently owned, non-denominational Christian bookstore in Baton Rouge, according to Dearman, though there are two...
The fate of the Marketplace Fairness Act—a federal bill requiring online retailers to collect and remit sales taxes just as brick-and-mortar stores do—is being closely watched by Baton Rouge retailers who stand to be impacted by it. "I'm all for it, obviously," says Danny Plaisance, owner of Cottonwood Books on Perkins Road. "To be objective, if I was a vendor who sold books online all over the country, it would be very difficult, so I'd hate to have to be facing it. But in fairness, it does level the playing field." That's the general argument most brick-and-mortar retailers make when they're asked about the bill. Corey Tisdale, CEO of ShoppersChoice.com—which generates the majority of its revenue via online sales—says he doesn't support the bill and isn't convinced it's really about "leveling the playing field." Rather, he feels it will give large online retailers like Amazon.com—which is now supporting the bill after years of opposing the...
Jon Claitor says he is getting ready to begin construction on the 10,000-square-foot, second portion of his shopping center, Acadian-Perkins Plaza, at the corner of Perkins Road and South Acadian Thruway. Construction on the build-out is scheduled to begin in May, and will include seven retail spaces, five of which have tenant deals in the works, including a restaurant. Claitor tells Daily Report he expects to finalize those deals next week. Claitor has also signed a letter of intent with an undisclosed developer for the 12,500-foot-space that was occupied by CVS before fire destroyed the shopping center in January 2010. Claitor has signed a confidentiality agreement with the developer and cannot discuss specifics of the plans, which he says are related to family entertainment. —Stephanie Riegel
When Greg Brandt abruptly closed Brandt's Maisonette in September 2011, he called the Mid City site where the gourmet French restaurant had operated for several years "the worst location in Baton Rouge." Perhaps it was not ideal for a high-end eatery. But a local purveyor of vintage and eclectic furniture is willing to give it another chance with a soon-to-open business that bills itself on its website as part retail space, part gallery and part interior design studio. Called Studio C, the establishment is located at 3786 Government St. and is the brainchild of Greg Vernice and Damien Boisvert, who recently returned from New York City, where they were in the retail furniture and design business. Merchandise will include vintage and eclectic furniture, accessories and art. The redevelopment of the vacant building is yet another boon, however small, to Mid City's primary commercial corridor—which over the weekend was the site of an event encouraging businesses and shoppers to...
Mattress Firm is continuing its Baton Rouge expansion with a new location in the old Blockbuster store on Millerville Road near Interstate 12. The new location under development is expected to open within the next 30 days, says Dottie Tarleton, a broker with Stirling Properties who handled the leasing agreement. The 5,500-square-foot store is located in front of Super Target, near Best Buy, Lowe's, Petsmart, Office Depot and Chick-fil-A. It marks the sixth Baton Rouge Mattress Firm location. The new store also marks the final Baton Rouge Blockbuster to get a new tenant since the brick-and-mortar video rental retailer succumbed to the digital age. Shortly after Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010, the building was purchased in 2011 by Texas-based investor Edry Commercial Properties for a total price of $1 million. Almost a dozen former Blockbuster locations in Baton Rouge have been repurposed, including an Airline Highway location that also has been redeveloped into a Mattress...
Costco Wholesale Corp. is awaiting approval from the state on its plan to accommodate increased traffic flow expected near the intersection of Airline Highway and Interstate 12 once its wholesale superstore is built.
Sales taxes collected in East Baton Rouge Parish totaled slightly more than $13 million in February, or about 3% less than was collected on retail and vehicle sales in February 2012, according to a new report released by the city-parish Finance Department. Excluding taxes on vehicle sales—which are considered a less reliable measure of economic conditions—collections in the city and parish were down more than 4% on the month: $12 million this year versus $12.5 million last year. Collections were down inside the city limits and outside, but less so outside the city. Inside the boundaries of Baton Rouge, combined retail and vehicle sales taxes netted slightly more than $7 million, which was a decrease of about 5% from February 2012. In the parish, combined collections totaled about $6 million, a decrease of less than 0.5% compared to collections the year previous. Year-to-date, combined collections in the city and parish are down 0.75% through the first two months of the...
The manager of Cortana Mall says he believes Baton Rouge is a "two-mall town" that has all the elements needed to revive the ailing shopping center at Airline Highway and Florida Boulevard. The 37-year old mall, which is just 54% occupied, is under new ownership after investors purchased the property last month for $6 million, promising to breathe new life into it. In its heyday, Cortana was the region's premier shopping destination. But since the Mall of Louisiana opened in 1997, Cortana has struggled with changing demographics and a loss of major retailers. Fred Meno, president and CEO of asset services for mall-manager The Woodmont Company, contends that Cortana is well-positioned for prosperity. With a good location and good traffic, he says, the fundamentals for retail success are already in place. A recent market analysis showed an estimated traffic count near the mall of 100,000 vehicles a day. The new owners, Moonbeam Equities, have a strategy to lure value-oriented retailers...
Costco Wholesale Corp. is awaiting approval from the state on plans to accommodate the increased traffic flow that the planned wholesale superstore is expected to bring to the intersection of Airline Highway and Interstate 12. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is reviewing the traffic study submitted by Costco and a final decision could come in a couple of months, says Amber Leach, a spokeswoman for the department. Leach says the traffic engineers are reviewing Costco's proposals to "make sure everything is going to adequately handle the volume of traffic that's going to come to that area." Costco has already been given the go-ahead from city-parish regulators to start construction on the retail warehouse, having received building permits and site plan approval for the estimated $12 million superstore. Detailed plans for the 148,000 square-foot facility and adjoining gas station with 16 pumps were filed with the Department of Public Works last month. Plans...
The Belle of Baton Rouge is exploring options to develop its atrium into a mixed-use space that would include new restaurants and retailers. The casino and hotel has hired a consulting firm to help it evaluate the interest level of vendors who might be a good fit for the 55,000-square-foot space. "We are hiring an outside consultant to help us fill up some of the retail space we have available," says Mike Donovan, marketing director for the downtown casino. "It's all contingent on us being able to get some sort of critical mass of folks who want to bring businesses down here." Donovan says the Belle has a master plan for developing the space but that the company doesn't want to "spend millions on a mixed-use facility and have no one in there." While the consultants evaluate options—a process that is expected to take several months—the Belle has made some changes to the facility to improve access and atmosphere. "We have doing some things on the atrium side with...
Struggling Cortana Mall could soon get a burst of fresh energy under new owners who purchased the 37-year-old shopping center on March 25. The group of investors, who organized in Louisiana in February as Cortana Mall LA, want to “do whatever we need to do to turn the project around,” says Sandra O'Clock, who handles acquisitions and transitions for Moonbeam Equity, the new owners' parent company. She says Nevada-based Moonbeam Equities has purchased at least seven other troubled shopping centers around the country over the past year with the goal of bringing shoppers and families back. O'Clock says the group views the acquisition as a long-term investment and plans to work with the community to develop a strategic plan to “re-tenant” the mall. The mall's occupancy rate currently hovers near 54%, significantly lower than the 89% occupancy level in the Baton Rouge retail market, according to a recent analysis . “We're still evaluating the project,”...
Cortana Mall has been purchased for $6 million by a group of investors who say they want to "bring it back to life." The group, Cortana Mall LA, was organized in Louisiana last month. The group's parent company, Nevada-based Moonbeam Equities, has purchased at least seven other underperforming shopping centers around the country over the past year, says Sandra O'Clock, who handles acquisitions and transitions for Moonbeam. She says the group views the acquisition as a long-term investment. "We're going to do whatever we need to do to turn the project around," O'Clock says. The sale was finalized Monday and O'Clock says the group has not yet developed plans. But, she says, the mall could see new tenants and a renovation. "We're still evaluating the project,” she says. “We need to get to know the community a little better.” The Woodmont Company will manage the mall, she says. –April Castro
Commercial Properties Realty Trust announced this morning that, along with previously announced anchor tenant Trader Joe's, Kean's Fine Dry Cleaning, stationery company The Keeping Room, and Nadeau furniture store are some of the tenants to be included at the Acadian Village shopping center under development at the corner of Perkins Road and South Acadian Thruway. Also, Smarter Eyewear, Pei Wei restaurant, Baby Bump Maternity, Air Blow Dry Bar and La Divina Italian Cafe will also join the 70,000-square-foot center, Commercial Properties says. And as previously reported by Daily Report, Commercial Properties confirms Petco will also be among the retail center's tenants. "The mix of businesses in Acadian Village will serve the well-established surrounding neighborhoods and draw more shoppers to the thriving Perkins Road Overpass Area,"...
There are two sides to every style of Bleulab pants. Each reversible pair of jeans comes with two distinct designs, doubling the outfit possibilities. Ideal for the traveling gal and generally for those who appreciate versatility, these jeans are moving quickly at Aria Boutique. Take a look on Aria’s Facebook page here.
QVC and HSN, the giants of TV retailing, mostly sell to women, says infomercial pioneer Kevin Harrington. But Harrington, perhaps best known for his role on ABC's Shark Tank, says Baton Rouge's The Outdoor Shopper has a chance to reach the largely untapped male market. "This is possibly the first effort to build a following that is going to be male-focused," he says. Harrington currently serves as an unofficial, unpaid adviser to The Outdoor Shopper, but says one of his companies may get involved officially at some point if the local firm demonstrates that it can be a scalable enterprise. "What I'm trying to help them with is getting them to the next level," he says. The Outdoor Shopper already has broadcast on the Pursuit Channel; founder and CEO Speed Bancroft's goal is to establish a standalone network. The Outdoor Shopper describes itself as "the televised shopping show for the outdoor industry," including...
Wal-Mart Corp. is moving forward with its plans for the long-awaited Walmart Supercenter on Bluebonnet Boulevard and Burbank Drive. According to a Data Fax report obtained by Daily Report, the Bentonville, Ark.-based corporation is putting the 160,000-square foot project out to bid on Tuesday, March 12. According to the report, the estimated cost of construction is $7 million, and three pre-qualified contractors are invited to bid: Clark Construction of McComb, Miss.; Crossland Construction of Columbus, Kan.; and Ewing Construction Co. of Corpus Christi, Texas. The total cost of the project—which was announced in 2008 but tabled for several years after the financial crisis began—is more than $11 million. A spokesman for Wal-Mart previously said the store is scheduled to open in mid-2014. The Walmart Supercenter is the latest of several developments in the burgeoning area. Last fall, RaceTrac Petroleum acquired an 80,000-square-foot site directly across from the...
The Gaudet Bros. salon at its Garden District location, 1284 Perkins Road, had its last day of business Feb. 7. Owner Micah Nickens says on Jan. 25 he received a stop work order from the city on the planned expansion of his popular salon into the former Tiger District warehouse next door.
Louisianans may have no way of getting around higher sales taxes that are included in Gov. Bobby Jindal's tax reform plan if the revitalized Marketplace Fairness Act keeps gaining traction in Congress. The federal bill seeks to level the playing field between brick-and-mortar retailers and online giants like Amazon by forcing the latter to collect sales tax at the time of purchase. On Thursday, Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu threw her support behind the bill, joining a bipartisan group of 53 senators and representatives. Corey Tisdale, CEO of ShoppersChoice.com, which does the bulk of its business online and also has a store on Coursey Boulevard, says the bill "is headed in the right direction." Yet Tisdale says, in its current form, it doesn't address his concerns for having to disclose customer information to other state governments. "I would like to see more safeguards about protecting privacy," Tisdale says. The Heritage Foundation and eBay are against the
After nearly 40 years near Cortana Mall on Florida Boulevard, the Ethan Allen Design Center is moving to 10300 Perkins Road, the former location of Young Fashions Uniform Outfitters. Todd Grand, the franchisee of Ethan Allen, says an official opening on Perkins Road—across from Perkins Rowe—is expected in the first half of March. The building has undergone an extensive renovation for Ethan Allen, Grand says. "We feel that it will be something that you won't see anywhere else in Baton Rouge, and it will be truly state of the art," he adds. Ethan Allen will hire up to 50% more employees, Grand says, in anticipation of increased sales in the retail-intensive corridor. "That's a dynamite location that's right in the heart of our demographic," Grand says. Ethan Allen has been located on Florida Boulevard since 1974. A retailer reportedly has a verbal agreement to move into the Grand family-owned building on Florida Boulevard and could be revealed in coming weeks, Grand says.
Americans spent slightly more last month at retail businesses and restaurants after higher taxes cut their paychecks. The small increase suggests consumer spending may be weak in the January-March quarter, which could stymie economic growth. Retail sales ticked up 0.1% in January from December, the Commerce Department says in a report released this morning. That follows a 0.5% increase in December and is the smallest in three months. Sales fell at auto dealerships, clothing stores and furniture stores. They rose at home-improvement stores, gas stations and online retailers. So-called core retail sales—which exclude autos, building materials, and gas stations—ticked up 0.2%. Economists pay close attention to core sales because they strip out the most volatile categories. The retail sales report is the government's first look at consumer spending, which drives 70% of economic activity. Nearly all working Americans are taking home less pay this year. Congress and the White...
In the next two weeks, Livingston Parish officials expect developer Creekstone Companies to reveal which big retailers are coming to Juban Crossing, the long-delayed, mixed-use development off Interstate 12 between Denham Springs and Walker. The project has experienced some setbacks since breaking ground in February 2011, and perhaps none bigger than a veto of Senate Bill 673 by Gov. Bobby Jindal in June last year. The bill would have created a special taxing district within Juban Crossing to help finance up to $45 million of infrastructure improvements in the development. After Jindal vetoed the bill, the state Department of Transportation and Development informed Creekstone that roundabouts would have to be constructed at Juban Crossing's entrances rather than T-bone intersections with stoplights. "It was like a one-two punch," says Livingston Parish President Layton Ricks. While the parish supports roundabouts, Ricks says, Juban Crossing already had leases in place in locations...
Thursday will be the last day of operation for Gaudet Bros. salon at its Garden District location at 1284 Perkins Road, says owner Micah Nickens. On Jan. 25, Nickens received a stop work order from the city on the planned expansion of his popular salon into the former Tiger District warehouse next door. Though the property is zoned for commercial use, Nickens has weighed his options and decided to relocate the business. Featured as one of 225's People to Watch in 2013, the longtime stylist and current Culture Candy board member had plans for the expanded salon that included art, fashion and music events as well as the retail location for NOLA Fashion Week founder Andi Eaton's new clothing line. Nickens says he hopes to find a new location in Mid City or downtown. "I can't change the business model, but I can change the location," Nickens says. According to the...
Now that the holidays have passed and you've been inspired all over again by Mom's cooking, local tech guru Logan Leger—featured in our May 2012 cover story on entrepreneurs—has released a new app for Apple devices called Extreme Cajun Cooking (extremecajuncooking.com). The Louisiana-inspired app contains photos, recipes, techniques and a handy check-off grocery list for bringing the area's legendary dishes into the information age.
In short order, 23-year-old LSU graduate student Emily Garrett has seen her modest Etsy-based jewelry business go global, shipping her handmade designs to buyers in Europe, Australia and Canada. Here she tells 225 about her creative small business.
When is a pharmacy not just a pharmacy? When a lot of eyes and hopes are on it as a touchstone for future downtown development, both commercial and residential.
The population of south Baton Rouge along Nicholson Drive has grown a lot in recent years with the creation of new residential developments, but everyday necessities, such as gas and groceries, still remain far for most. That's why developer Greg Flores is planning to build retail and commercial office space for a 274-lot neighborhood, Lexington Park, to the south of Lexington Estates. "It'd be great to have a small, deli-style grocery there," Flores says. He also anticipates the possibility that a bank and other retailers, such as a dry cleaners store, could move to the Nicholson development. Lexington Park, which is technically a third phase of Lexington Estates, will bring the total number of homes Flores has built in the area to 442. The first phase was built in 2006. Before new homes are built, Flores says, he'll first build a clubhouse at the entrance to Lexington Park that will provide a pool, tennis courts and baseball field for the neighborhoods. The rear of Lexington Park...
Nearly eight years ago, Katie Jacob Dallimore had a vision: unique contemporary woman's boutique that carried everything from swimsuits to cocktail dresses.
A last-minute surge in spending helped many major retailers report better-than-expected sales in December, a relief for stores that make up to 40% of annual revenue during the holiday period. Consumers had a lot to worry about this holiday, including the possibility of the U.S. economy falling off the "fiscal cliff." But after spending cautiously during most of the season, they loosened their purse strings in the final shopping days. Twenty retailers reported sales in December rose an average of 4.5% compared with the year-ago period, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. That's on the high end of the expected range of 4% to 4.5%. Costco, Nordstrom and TJX Cos. were among the best performers. Target and Barnes & Noble had weaker results.
Holiday sales may have been sluggish across the country overall, but some local retailers say for them, the 2012 season was a banner one. Lee Michaels Jewelers, for instance, is on pace for its best year of retail sales ever since its founding 35 years ago. “This is our best Christmas on record, and our best November on record,” says Scott Berg, market president for Lee Michaels in Baton Rouge. If the trend continues through the company's fiscal year ending in April, Lee Michaels could surpass its record year in 2007, Berg says. At Perkins Rowe, retailers also reported strong holiday sales, though exact numbers are not yet available. General manager Tony Stephens says the development had healthy crowds throughout the season and that local and national retailers there have suggested it was a good season. —Adam Pearson
Creekstone Companies, which owns Towne Center in Baton Rouge and is developing Juban Crossing in Livingston Parish, has put up for sale a 230,000-square-foot mall in Dallas, according to The Dallas Morning News. The Preston Center Pavilion & Square is the only such retail property in Creekstone's portfolio aside from the two aforementioned Capital Region developments. It's located in the heart of Dallas' most upscale residential community, according to the Creekstone website, and is host to a mix of tenants including Marshalls, Ross, DSW Shoes, Office Depot, CVS Pharmacy, Sleep Experts, Pei Wei, Chipotle and Sonic. It was redeveloped in 2000. The Houston-based firm picked up the property in 2005. You can find the full story here.
Customers looking for bargains are packing the Ethan Allen store on Florida Boulevard near Airline Highway this week, as it is offering deeply discounted prices on its high-end furniture in preparation for its move early next year to a new location. The store, which has occupied the same site for more than 30 years, is moving to a newly renovated building it purchased earlier this year on Perkins Road at Bluebonnet, across from Perkins Rowe. The owners say the long-established business has had continually strong sales. The move across town says a lot about the shifting demographics in Baton Rouge and where retailers perceive the action to be. "You want to be located where your customers shop," says realtor Chad Ortte, adding that Ethan Allen owner Todd Grand spent three years scouting for a new south Baton Rouge location before settling on the strip center he has...
U.S. holiday sales so far this year have been the weakest since 2008, when the nation was in a deep recession. That puts pressure on stores that now hope for a post-Christmas burst of spending. This year's holiday season was marred by bad weather and uncertainty about the economy in the face of possible tax hikes and spending cuts early next year. Some analysts say the massacre of schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., earlier this month may also have chipped away at shoppers' enthusiasm. Sales for the two months before Christmas increased 0.7% compared with last year, according to a MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report. That's way below the healthy 3% to 4% growth that analysts had expected—and the worst year-over-year performance since 2008, when spending shrank sharply during the Great Recession. But stores still have some time to make up lost ground. The final week of December accounts for about 15% of the month's sales, says Michael McNamara, vice president for research and...
Sportsman's Plaza, a 10,800-square-foot retail strip center on Cabela's Parkway in Gonzales—situated near both the Cabela's outdoors store and the Tanger Outlets—should break ground in the spring. Steve Legendre with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate, who's marketing the property for its developer, says a deal to secure the land should be completed in early January, with construction to begin in March or April. "We have about 5,000 square feet pre-leased to a Chinese restaurant, and we've been speaking to a number of local and regional companies who have expressed interest," Legendre says. The development, which will be built on a 58,000-square-foot site, could house up to as many three other tenants, he says, or as few as one more. "I'd love to get a barbecue place in there. I've spoken with Voodoo BBQ and some others; and they've considered the site," Legendre says. "It's a little too early to say who might end up in there, but I think once we start getting it out of the...
Sportsman's Plaza, a 10,800-square-foot retail strip center on Cabela's Parkway in Gonzales—situated near both the Cabela's outdoors store and the Tanger Outlets—should break ground in the spring. Steve Legendre with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate, who's marketing the property for its developer, says a deal to secure the land should be completed in early January, with construction to begin in March or April. "We have about 5,000 square feet pre-leased to a Chinese restaurant, and we've been speaking to a number of local and regional companies who have expressed interest," Legendre says. The development, which will be built on a 58,000-square-foot site, could house up to as many three other tenants, he says, or as few as one more. "I'd love to get a barbecue place in there. I've spoken with Voodoo BBQ and some others; and they've considered the site," Legendre says. "It's a little too early to say who might end up in there, but I think once we start getting it out of the...
Got the perfect piece of furniture in mind, but can't find it? Ever seen the right dresser, but thought it could use two more drawers? Joel Davis says his new Mid City store, Wooden Haven Furniture Co., can custom design and have nearly any piece of furniture hand-built within six months. “There's a lot of people out there that have been looking for a piece of furniture for years, and can't find it—why wait anymore?” asks Davis, who opened the store Dec. 1 at 4173 Government St. with his wife, Danielle. Joel Davis says he and his wife traveled to Indonesia before opening their store and found their own furniture makers. Davis works with the customers on the design, sends an email to Indonesia and the furniture is shipped to the United States. He says furniture prices had gotten too high at their former furniture store, De Madera in Lafayette, which they co-owned with another business partner before closing it last year. “You bring us a concept, and we build...
DDD Executive Director Davis Rhorer was as surprised as anyone when, in the process of doing a television interview Wednesday on new downtown projects, he saw a sign going up for a corner store at Third Street and Florida Boulevard, with an application for a liquor permit pasted to the door. "I checked it out real quick," says Rhorer, who concedes he was initially concerned that the planned establishment would amount to little more than a packaged liquor store. But after talking to the store's owner, Michael Matroodnejad, Rhorer says he is optimistic the store will be more like a New York City¬–style corner store, with a mix of convenience items and groceries. The store will not, however, fill the need for a full-service grocery store, something Rhorer has been trying to bring to downtown for several years. "I am encouraged by what this could mean for downtown," he says. "But we still need a real grocery store." Matroodnejad and his business partner have been invited to address...
The typical holiday shopping season has four weekends packed in it between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, there are five. That calendar rarity has slightly slowed Christmas shopping during the week at Baton Rouge area retail centers, but managers say they expect procrastinators to be shopping heavily this weekend—the last opportunity to do so before Christmas. "I fully expect this weekend to be crazier than past Christmases because people have been putting it off," says John Taylor, manager of Tanger Outlets in Gonzales, adding that traffic is heavier than last year at the outdoor shopping mall. However, construction for six new stores slated to open in April—J. Crew, Under Armour, Brooks Brothers, American Eagle, Ann Taylor Loft and Talbots—has taken up parking space that is normally available and has made driving conditions tighter. The Mall of Louisiana also expects a very busy weekend, as weekday shoppers have been slightly less numerous this year.
A building that's home to one of Barnes & Noble's three Baton Rouge bookstores, at 2590 CitiPlace Court, has hit the market for an undisclosed price, but a company official says any potential sale will have no impact on the store. "We just renewed the lease there, and my suspicion is, when it comes up to the end of the term, we will take another look at renewing it," says Barnes & Noble Vice President of Development David Deason, adding the recently inked lease is good for another "five or six years." The 34,325-square-foot building was constructed in 1996, according to the listing, and is located on a 107,161-square-foot lot. Deason says Barnes & Noble, like most major retailers, leases all of its locations and that sales of the buildings they are located within are not uncommon. "These are commodities that are traded on a daily basis," he says. "My guess is, if you look online you could find 250 of our stores" that are located in buildings listed for sale. Barnes & Noble recently...
Abigail DePino has yet to purchase a single Christmas gift from a brick-and-mortar store this year. All of her shopping is done online. The 28-year-old Watson resident has been to the Mall of Louisiana just twice this year, and while Cortana Mall is closer to home, she avoids it altogether—save for the occasional trip to the adjacent Bed Bath & Beyond. "It's nice to be able to go to the mall with friends and my sister, walk around, window shop and grab dinner together. It's kind of like a day out," DePino says. "But it's a 45-minute drive into Baton Rouge, and who wants to wait in line?" The recession, waffling consumers, demographic shifts and thriving e-commerce are all threats to what once set the standard for retail shopping: the mall. Traditional enclosed retail centers have given way to open-air lifestyle centers, which themselves are now struggling to compete with the convenience and comfort of online purchasing. Per-capita spending in shopping centers fell to $7,176...
Costco Wholesale Corp. has filed a concept plan with the East Baton Rouge Parish Planning Commission to build a 149,000-square-foot warehouse store at the site of the former Coca-Cola bottling plant on Airline Highway. The national warehouse club signed a purchase agreement in April for an undisclosed price to acquire the 28-acre site from Coca-Cola Bottling Company United Gulf Coast. Though the sale has not been finalized, the company is apparently moving forward with plans for its first location in the Baton Rouge market. According to the application for preliminary site plan approval, which the company filed Thursday, Costco plans to build a warehouse retail building that will include an attached tire center and a freestanding gas station. Three outparcels will also be available on the site for future development. The application says if Costco gains all necessary permits and approvals, demolition of the old facility and construction of the new one should take six months and the...
BD Kitchen Co.—one of the city's only locally owned kitchen stores—is closing its Towne Center location at the end of the month, less than two years after opening. Owners Bill Bethea and Ronnie Daley attribute their decision to permanently shutter the store to a lack of marketing support from shopping center management and a lack of foot traffic, something that has been a common complaint of retailers located on the "back," or Jefferson Highway side, of the development. "I need 90 people a day walking in front of my store—with half coming in—to make this business work," Bethea says. "We weren't getting one-tenth of that." The 3,000-square-foot space was the second location in Towne Center for BD Kitchen; it previously was located in a smaller space on the Corporate Boulevard side, commonly considered the "front," of the shopping center. Bethea and Daley say they regularly complained to management about the lack of marketing support, but to no avail. In a...
The estimated value of Perkins Rowe is up 10% over just a few months ago. That's according to an updated appraisal that was filed earlier today in the foreclosure suit surrounding the mixed-use development. The new appraisal estimates Perkins Rowe is worth some $95 million, compared to the $86 million appraisal that was filed in the court record earlier this year. The new higher value reflects a rare win-win in the protracted case for both the lender, KeyBank National Associates, and the developer, Tommy Spinosa, who had successfully challenged the bank's earlier appraisal. The new appraisal means he is potentially on the hook for at least a little less of the roughly $200 million the court has ruled he owes to KeyBank. A spokesperson for KeyBank attributes the higher appraisal to good management and maintenance of the property, as well as the securing of new leases. She says the bank will now file to set the date for a foreclosure sale. —Stephanie Riegel
Black Friday was apparently no match for Superstorm Sandy. Major retailers from Target to Macy's are today reporting weak November sales, as the strong start to the holiday shopping season—including a good showing on the day after Thanksgiving—wasn't enough to fully offset the damage caused by Sandy earlier in the month. The storm stunted enthusiasm among shoppers in the Northeast during the first couple of weeks of November just as stores were preparing for the busiest shopping period of the year: a roughly two-month stretch at year's end when they can make up to 40% of their annual revenue. "It really took away the punchbowl for retailers and put them behind the eight ball heading into the crucial weekend," says Ken Perkins, president of research firm RetailMetrics. Eighteen retailers today reported that November sales at stores open at least a year—an indicator of a retailer's health—through last Saturday were up 1.7% compared with the year-ago period,...
Early economic indicators suggest the holiday shopping season will be a good one for retailers, and it is also shaping up to be a good one for the area's media outlets. Though local television stations are unable to provide exact numbers, they say holiday-related ad sales are up over this time last year. "Spending on ads is definitely better than last year, and last year was up over 2010," says Denise Robichaux, director of sales at WBRZ-TV. Local CBS affiliate WAFB-TV reports a similar, positive trend. "Everyone is very optimistic," says local sales manager Ellen Salmon. Helping fuel fourth-quarter ad sales, no doubt, is the availability of local spots, which were gobbled up by political ad buys during the campaign season. Even though Louisiana was not a so-called battleground state in the presidential election and didn't see the kind of massive spending as some other states did, candidates in the local mayor's and Louisiana Supreme Court races purchased airtime at a premium that...
If you want to buy someone those seven swans, six geese or five golden rings in the traditional "12 Days of Christmas" carol this year, they're going to cost you a bit more than last year. That's according to the so-called Christmas Price Index that PNC Wealth Management updates annually. If you get all 364 items collectively named in all the verses of the song, you'll pay 6.1% more this year than last year. The total comes to $107,300. "The rise is larger than expected considering the modest economic growth we've had," says Jim Dunigan, managing executive of investments for PNC. He notes that the government's Consumer Price Index has risen just 2% in the 12 months before September. Thrifty shoppers may find some reasons for cheer. Six items mentioned in the song haven't gone up in price: maids-a-milking, ladies dancing, lords-a-leaping, calling birds, turtle doves and the partridge. The eight maids-a-milking still cost just $58 because the minimum wage hasn't risen. Twelve drummers...
A jewelry store and home furnishing store, both based in Jackson, Miss., are moving to Towne Center by early next year. The owners, Alan and Fran Weeks, say they plan to open both Turkoyz and Turkoyz @ HOME near one another in January or February. The jewelry store, Turkoyz, will be located near Mignon Faget. Alan Weeks says Turkoyz will not be in direct competition with the fine jewelry store. "We're more fashion jewelry," he says. Turkoyz @ HOME will be located next to American Eagle Outfitters and RussoRoss. Alan Weeks says Turkoyz has eyed an expansion into the Baton Rouge market for a while because college towns have proven to be a valuable market. Turkoyz is also located in Hattiesburg and Oxford, Miss., as well as Covington and Memphis, Tenn. The first store opened in Jackson six years ago. Turkoyz @ HOME is making Baton Rouge its third location, with other stores in Jackson and Memphis. The stores carry small furniture, picture frames, candles, and about 10 different pottery...
Stella Boutique has plans to close indefinitely early next year, says owner Katie Dallimore, who gave birth to triplets on May 17. "It's not the decision I wanted to make, because I love my business and I love my customers," Dallimore says. "Now they'll get my full attention," she adds, referring to her three infants. Dallimore opened Stella nearly eight years ago at 3033 Perkins Road. Stella's departure will mark the third store in the Perkins Road overpass area to announce its exit in the past two months. In late September, Loft 3H announced its move to Corporate Boulevard. In October, Bosco's Frozen Yogurt closed the store it had opened in July, next to Jimmy John's in the Perkins Road Hardware complex. Dallimore says she didn't...
While there's plenty of money available for existing, well-performing properties, big regional retail developments remain hard to finance, says real estate attorney Charles Landry. "They're trying to figure out, 'What is it that the consumer wants?' " he says. "I don't think you'll ever see a Mall of Louisiana–type structure built around Louisiana again." But he says we also probably won't see many more of the open-air lifestyle centers that were all the rage for developers in the years before the crash but now are struggling in many cases. He says there continues to be plenty of interest in existing, performing properties. "I'm as busy as I was five years ago," he says. "But it's a different play. … What you're seeing a lot in Louisiana is a bunch of nice properties being traded right now. There's a lot of cash [available], and people are looking for something they can depend on." —David Jacobs
October reports out this morning from the federal government show retail prices dipped for consumers while wholesale prices also declined. Americans cut back on spending at retail businesses in October, an indication that some remain cautious about the economic outlook. Superstorm Sandy also depressed car sales and slowed business in the Northeast at the end of the month. The Commerce Department reports that sales dropped 0.3% after three months of gains. Auto sales fell 1.5%, the most in more than a year. Excluding the volatile categories of autos, gas and building materials, sales fell 0.1%. The government says Sandy "had both positive and negative effects" on sales. Some stores and restaurants closed and lost business. Others reported sales increases ahead of the storm as people bought supplies. Meanwhile, wholesale prices fell in October as a big drop in gasoline and other energy prices offset a rise in the cost of food. Wholesale prices dipped 0.2% last month, the Labor...
Home Depot reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit this morning and raised its full-year outlook, as the world's largest home improvement chain benefited from a recent uptick in the U.S. housing market. Reuters reports the nascent national recovery in housing has encouraged professional contractors to buy more in recent months. Home Depot has also gained from its own efforts to improve distribution, cut costs, and localize marketing and merchandising. "Our third-quarter results were better than we expected and reflected, in part, what we believe is the start of the path toward the healing of the housing market," says Home Depot CEO Frank Blake. Net earnings rose to $947 million in the third quarter of this year, up from $934 million a year earlier. Home Depot has been taking market share from rival Lowe's with the help of better pricing and customer service, analysts say. Lowe's, which has lagged behind Home Depot in same-store sales for 13 straight quarters, plans to report...
Baton Rouge developer Donnie Jarreau has offered $957,500 to buy 3.7 acres of land in Lake Charles on which he's proposing to develop a housing and business project called Ryan Street Lofts. The (Lake Charles) American Press reports Jarreau is among three developers vying for the property, which was formerly the longtime home of Sears. The city, which purchased the property in the 600 block of Ryan Street in 2006 for $766,000, is expected to choose a developer for the project this week. Jarreau is proposing a $20 million project consisting of commercial space, 188 multifamily units, and on-site parking. His plan includes a 30- to 60-day period to close the land deal, followed by a 180-day Federal Housing Administration financing process. Jarreau is the high bidder on the land among the three proposals being considered. Lake Charles developer Roger Landry has offered $628,000, with plans to build a residential and retail facility that would be home to 166 luxury apartments and...
POSITION Co-founder and COO COMPANY Internet Retail Connection WHAT THEY DO Build online sales portals that sell from wholesalers to consumers REVENUE $7 million last year NEXT GOAL Increase websites' search engine rankings
Highland Place, the upscale shopping center on Highland Road near Perkins Road, has two new tenants—and they are both locally owned, specialty boutiques. Elle Apparel & Accessories, which caters to tweens and juniors with fashionable yet affordable dresses and apparel, opened earlier this week in a 1,038-square-foot space. Lukka, which will sell high-end women's shoes, clothing and accessories, is opening next month in a nearby 1,400-square-foot space. "The entrepreneurial spirit is still very much alive and well," says Mark Hebert, of Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate, who inked the deals. "That area is particularly attractive because within a five-mile radius of that area you have the highest household income in the state." That demographic is, in part, what attracted Elle's owners, friends Debi Grymes and Laura Maestri, to the site. Grymes previously owned The Little House in Towne Center, which has been closed several years, while Maestri owned The Enchanted Closet on...
Just two years after activist investor William Ackman and Canadian investment powerhouse Brookfield Asset Management joined forces to pull mall giant General Growth Properties out of bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reports the two owners are squabbling. Ackman wants General Growth—which owns the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge and roughly 150 other malls across the country—to consider selling itself for what he expects would be a big premium. For its part, Brookfield prefers to stay the course and focus on improvements to the company's malls, which also include flagships Ala Moana Center in Honolulu and Grand Canal Shoppes in Las Vegas. The bickering is escalating, even though both owners have already made enormous profits on their investments. For Brookfield, which owns a 42% stake in Chicago-based General Growth including warrants, the $3.5 billion it invested in General Growth since 2009 has more than doubled in value. Ackman invested about $60 million in...
"Get the shotguns while you can," says Julie Vezinot, director of the Louisiana Bicentennial Commission, because the state's official bicentennial Ruger .22 rifles are sold out. As of noon today, Vezinot says, just 52 Browning .12-gauge shotguns remain for sale at $1,812—the price set to honor the year Louisiana became the 18th state of the Union. Due to the recession and budget cuts, the commission initially had no money to play with for bicentennial parades, ceremonies or even Louisiana history classes for schools. So the commission turned to coins, posters, T-shirts, CDs, lapel pins, cocktail glasses, and pendants in an effort to raise about $100,000. But retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, chairman of the commission, had an even better marketing idea: combine commemoration of the state and its sportsman culture by emblazoning the bicentennial logo on the wood-grain stock of Rugers, as well as fashioning and engraving the event's logo and coin on the sides of Brownings.
Sales tax collections inside the Baton Rouge city limits posted a year-over-year decline during August for the first time in 2012, down 1.86% compared to last August, according to a new report from the city-parish Finance Department. Collections outside the limits, however, were up enough—3.21%—to make up for the interior decline and put combined collections up 0.52% compared to August 2011. Collectively, the city and parish netted $13.9 million in August, or about $72,000 more than during August 2011. It's the lowest combined increase in collections yet this year. The next-lowest increase came in January, when collections were up 6.8%, or about $832,000, compared to the same month a year earlier. In every other month this year, increases have exceeded 7%. The best month thus far in 2012 has been May, when collections in the city-parish were up 13.6%, or $1.8 million. Year-to-date, combined collections stand at $114.4 million through August, up about 8% over the roughly...
Fashion is the fastest-growing segment of online commerce, and it's being propelled by an atypical source: men. Men who have had to live with department stores designed primarily for women are flocking to websites such as Bonobos and Thrillist that push convenience and a fast shopping experience. And these sites are capturing a growing part of the $41 billion fashion e-commerce market by providing services like recommending items based on personality or shipping trunks of clothes to a guy's home so he can pick. Thrillist, for example, gives men tips for activities or products and then sells them. Its founder, Ben Lerer, tells Bloomberg: "Men don't hate fashion; they just hate shopping the way it's designed for women." And he points to a generational difference among male shoppers: "The young generation of guys love to shop; they love to talk about the brands they like, and they really care about how they look." While women's share of the online clothing market is still more...
Trader Joe’s, a 13,000-square-foot specialty supermarket, will be the anchor tenant for a 54,000-square-foot shopping center, Acadian Village, at Perkins Road and Acadian Thruway.
A 15,000-square-foot Walgreens is about four months away from being completed in Port Allen, and another further along in Baton Rouge at Highland Road and Lee Drive is scheduled to open on Nov. 2, says Jonathan Lanza, vice president of Lanco Construction, which is constructing both. The Walgreens in Port Allen, at 220 North Alexander St., is replacing a grocery store that was leveled for the pharmacy's construction after having sat vacant for a number of months. "It's the newer prototype design Walgreens is using—the same that's being used on the one at Highland and Lee. It's a more modern look," Lanza says. West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kathy Stuart says the Port Allen store will be the first big-box pharmacy in Port Allen. "Our local mom-and-pop pharmacies do a great job … but this is a nice addition to that part of the city. And of course, it will add to the attractiveness of downtown Port Allen," she says. "We've been seeing more interest...
Trader Joe's has released renderings of the 13,000-square-foot specialty supermarket that will serve as anchor tenant of a 54,000-square-foot shopping center in Acadian Village at the corner of Perkins Road and Acadian Thruway. The grocery store is scheduled to open next September. Commercial Properties Real Estate Trust is developing the project. It's being designed by Antunovich Associates of Chicago. Trader Joe's says the store's interior will feature a festive décor that mixes cedar covered walls and Hawaiian motifs with local art. See additional renderings of the project here.
We're getting our first peek at the long-awaited Trader Joe's grocery store, which is scheduled to open next September in the Acadian Village at Perkins Road and Acadian Thruway. Daily Report has obtained a copy of architectural renderings for the 13,000-square-foot specialty supermarket, which will be the anchor tenant for a 54,000-square-foot shopping center that will include several other high-end, well-known national retailers, says Tina Rance, marketing director for the property. "We are in the final lease stages with several tenants that will be a great addition to the Baton Rouge market," says Rance, who works for Commercial Properties Real Estate Trust, which is developing the project. "Baton Rouge is the first Louisiana location for Trader Joe's, and we feel that it will be a regional draw as well." Renderings for the project, which is being designed by architects Antunovich Associates of Chicago, depict a stylish brick façade with a distinctly Louisiana flair,...
Loft 3H, the boutique on Perkins Road that has dressed up the overpass area for five years, is moving to the 7400 block of Corporate Boulevard next month to provide easier access to its customers, says owner Keith Kimble. By the second weekend of October, Loft 3H plans to have opened across the street from Towne Center in the shopping center housing businesses including Christian Street Furniture and Envy the Salon. "We just felt that was a better location," Kimble says. The move comes on the heels of Loft 3H's late-June expansion in New Orleans on Magazine Street, near Louisiana Street and the same block of The Bulldog and American Apparel. Kimble says he and his business partner Danny Watts have had double the sales on Magazine Street compared to Perkins Road. "And we've done no advertising, we've been open only three months—it's location," he says. Loft 3H's floor space on Corporate will be very similar to that of the Perkins location, Kimble says, adding that he has no...
At Privé Lingerie Boutique in Towne Center, lingerie is on sale 60% to 70% off—"some of it more than that," says owner Heather Savoy. And by Tuesday, the final day of business for Privé, Savoy hopes to have it all sold. The boutique will close its doors for good next week, Savoy says, with the termination of its lease. "It's been five years, and it's time to move on from that," Savoy says, noting her niche boutique stumbled with the stagnant economy a few years ago and hasn't fully recovered. "It just doesn't make a lot of sense to keep doing it," she says. Savoy says she's going back to work in residential real estate full-time—which she did for 12 years prior to opening Privé in 2007—and focus more on her three children. She says she was supported well by a core clientele, but is moving her abundant luxury stock at thrifty prices. The $100 luxury bras are on sale for $20, for example. Privé Lingerie Boutique is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and closed Sunday. Towne...
Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., which owns 150 shopping malls across the United States—including the Mall of Louisiana—has rebuffed activist shareholder Bill Ackman's efforts to push it to consider a sale, The Wall Street Journalreports. General Growth's board argues that the gains it has made since leaving bankruptcy protection in 2010 support additional improvement as a stand-alone company. General Growth has roughly $20 billion in debt and an equity value of $19.3 billion. Ackman, one of the architects of the recapitalization plan that lifted General Growth out of bankruptcy, has argued the company's shareholders would be best served by a sale. Ackman has specifically mentioned Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc., the nation's largest mall owner, as a possible buyer. But Bloomberg
After nearly 20 years at the same location at 10300 Perkins Road, Young Fashions Uniform Outfitters is moving to 11111 Coursey Blvd. Owner Tanya Kennedy, who sold the Perkins location to Ethan Allen, says Young Fashions will complete its move to Coursey Boulevard by the end of this month. Young Fashions never used more than 30,000 square feet of the 54,000 square feet inside the Perkins Road store, Kennedy says, and will be more comfortable in the 20,000 square feet at its new location. "We really don't need all that space in the back, which is a warehouse," Kennedy says. Kennedy sold the old store location in late August. The new Young Fashions location—across the street from The Chimes East, between Cedarcrest Avenue and South Sherwood Forest Boulevard—was formerly the Rug Gallery and a golf store, Kennedy says. The Ethan Allen furniture store on Florida Boulevard near Cortana Mall will move to Young Fashions' old location by March, she says. An Ethan Allen...
Despite Gov. Bobby Jindal's veto earlier this summer of a bill that would have created a special taxing district to help finance infrastructure improvements at Juban Crossing in Livingston Parish, the mixed-use project is moving forward, says developer Stephen Keller. In a written statement, Keller says more than 300,000 square feet of retail space in the development have "negotiated leases pending final signatures" by national tenants, and notes he is exploring alternative sources of funding for the project, which has an estimated price tag of $350 million when fully built out. "We are analyzing alternative methods of financing being proposed to us and are in the process of selecting the best structure to complete phase one," writes Keller, principal of Creekstone Companies. In June, the Legislature approved a TIF zone for the Juban Crossing Economic Development District, which would have deposited 1% of state sales tax generated within the district back into the district for a...
Exactly three years after coming to Baton Rouge to manage Perkins Rowe, Rick Balow of Jones Lang LaSalle is moving back to his native Minnesota to assume a new position with the property management company. JLL was appointed by a federal district judge to take over and manage the mixed-use development in August 2009 after the main lender on the project, KeyBank National Association, initiated foreclosure proceedings against its developer, Tommy Spinosa. As the suit has wended its way through the federal courts in the three years since, Balow has taken a development that was plagued with problems—including liens, lawsuits, unfinished construction projects, high turnover and endless negative publicity—and turned it into one of the most popular and successful retail destinations in the metro area. In a letter to friends and employees, Balow writes: "I'm very proud of all that we accomplished here at Perkins Rowe and am eternally grateful to each of you for the part you...
Attorneys for developer Tommy Spinosa filed documents late this afternoon to try to block the latest efforts by KeyBank National Associates to foreclose on Perkins Rowe. Late last month, the Ohio-based lender asked the federal district court to let it move forward with the foreclosure, which has been stalled—even though the bank was awarded that legal right nearly a year ago. Spinosa's attorneys had until today to respond to the motion. In their response, they argue that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District lacked the jurisdiction to render a judgment in the case in the first place—an argument they have raised throughout the three-year-old case. Attorneys also argue that several legal issues related to the case must be resolved before a final ruling on the foreclosure can be issued. Attorneys for both sides could not be reached for comment. There is no word on when the court will rule.—Stephanie Riegel
Beginning Thursday, Aug. 16, the LSU Faculty Club restaurant will officially begin its transition to becoming The Club at LSU Union Square, a fine dining destination for both lunch and dinner. Located at the corner of Highland and Raphael Semmes roads, The Club at LSU Union Square will be open for lunch on weekdays from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and for dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. Private dining rooms for up to 45 guests may be reserved during regular club hours. The venue is also available for special events outside of regular business hours. The LSU Union Square will also include a new Barnes & Noble university bookstore; a new Apple Retail Store; a new five-floor, 750-vehicle parking garage; the recently renovated LSU Student Union and Union Theater; and connecting outdoor spaces. The new areas are scheduled to be complete and open by the fall of 2013. On LSU football game days, The Club at LSU Union Square will open from noon to kick-off. Officials foresee...
Massey's Outfitters, a New Orleans-based outdoors goods store, will open its second Baton Rouge location at 3340 Highland Road near the North Gates of LSU in early August. The new Massey's location is the company's fifth retail location, joining brick-and-mortar shops in New Orleans, Covington, Metairie and the Baton Rouge location in Towne Center. Massey's Regional Manager Steven Sickinger says the company has been looking to expand in Baton Rouge, and the location's proximity to LSU's campus was an instinctive draw. "We felt that this area of the city is definitely one of the up-and-coming areas," Sickinger says. While the Towne Center location focuses on camping and kayaking, the Highland Road location will feature bicycles and running gear to appeal to students and on-the-go customers who jog around the nearby LSU lakes. "No Massey's location is going to look the same as the others cosmetically," Sickinger says. A full-service bike maintenance shop completed with bike rental...
Aided by Bayou Country Superfest and the U.S. Bowling Congress tournament, sales tax collections in the city and parish were collectively up 13.6% in May compared to the same month last year, according to a report from the city-parish finance department. Figures released this morning show the 2% sales tax dedicated to the city-parish general fund totaled $15.1 million in May, an increase of $1.8 million over May 2011. For the first five months of the year, sales tax receipts have totaled $71.5 million, an increase of 9.2% compared to the same period a year ago. In a prepared statement accompanying today's report, Mayor Kip Holden says additional sales tax collections should be spent on public safety while discussions about next year's budget continue. "The economy is still fragile, and good news doesn't mean there will be a spending spree," Holden says. "We will continue to be responsible and frugal, keeping a tight rein on spending, but public safety will always, always see the...
While the Perkins Rowe foreclosure lawsuit continues to wend its way through the court system after three years, the legal issues do not appear to be hurting business at the mixed-use development, according to property manager Rick Balow. On the contrary, he says, leasing activity has never been stronger. JuJu's, a new boutique, recently moved into existing retail space, and three more boutiques are "very close to going to lease," Balow says, adding that the tenants will be leasing both new and existing retail space. Two new restaurants are also negotiating deals to move into Perkins Rowe, he says. A new concept Mexican restaurant that is locally owned and will feature live music is planning a move into the space previously occupied by The Grillroom, while a barbecue chain restaurant will take over the space that formerly housed Fish City Grill. While those previous restaurant tenants didn't do well in Perkins Rowe, Balow says the development is an increasingly popular dining venue...
A recent agreement struck between retailers and credit card companies means retailers can begin passing along some extra fees for processing credit card transactions to consumers. And because Louisiana is not among 10 states that have laws barring such kind of surcharges, consumers in Baton Rouge and throughout the state may begin to see the fees appear on their receipts. "What consumers might see is certain businesses, probably the smaller ones, asking them to pay an additional fee when using a credit card, or offering them a discount to pay in cash," says Linda Sherry, spokeswoman for Consumer Action, a national nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. "We think it's pretty ugly for consumers." Some say passing along the charge to consumers is a fair move, as retailers have long built the fees they pay to credit card companies into the average prices of goods—meaning those who traditionally pay in cash are also paying for the choice not to use credit. The agreement reached...
The outlook for the U.S. economy appeared a little dimmer today after a report was released saying Americans spent less at retail businesses for a third straight month in June. The Commerce Department report led some economists to downgrade their estimates for economic growth in the April-June quarter. Many now think the economy grew even less than in the first quarter of the year, when it expanded at a sluggish 1.9% annual rate. Spending in June fell in nearly every major category—from autos, furniture and appliances to building, garden supplies and department stores. Overall, retail sales slid 0.5% from May to June, the Commerce Department says. Retail sales hadn't fallen for three straight months since the fall of 2008, at the height of the financial crisis. The weak U.S. spending figures were announced on the same day that the International Monetary Fund slightly lowered its outlook for global growth over the next two years. "However hard you look, there's just no good news...
Independent grocer Calvin Lindsly darts through the tight, neat aisles of his Bocage Village supermarket, pointing out dozens of specialty goods he's ordered over the years in response to requests from customers.
While recently breaking up and approving items within Mayor Kip Holden's $11.1 million budget supplement, the Metro Council voted to approve $200,000 for the planning of Smiley Heights, marking some of the first dollars appropriated for implementing the FuturEBR master plan for land use and development. For Smiley Heights—a mixed-use development including education, retail, residential and commercial components in the Melrose East community, where Greenwell Springs Road and Ardenwood Drive intersect—$55,000 is allocated for consultant fees for wetland mitigation, and $45,000 is allocated for consultant fees for planning a new charter school and site of Baton Rouge Community College. The remaining $100,000 is allocated for implementing the rest of the Mid City Urban Renewal District, including finalizing district boundaries and securing revenue sources. The city-parish envisions that Smiley Heights—a part of the urban renewal district—will encompass 3,500 new...
Eric Hedrick attended Loyola University for a degree in broadcast journalism. But out of college in 2000, he found himself working in the apparel business. “I was filling a need,” Hedrick says. “There was no one making high-end college apparel, especially men's apparel.”
Tiger Mania's three brick-and-mortar stores in Baton Rouge and its e-commerce website at TigerMania.net have been acquired by Indianapolis-based hat and sports merchandise retailer LIDS Sports Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed in a news release about the acquisition, which was also vague about the future of the three Tiger Mania stores. In the release, LIDS Sports Group Executive Vice President of Retail Charlie Brodt says, "With our expertise in sports apparel retailing, as well as a broad assortment of officially licensed LSU merchandise, I truly believe Tiger fans will find a significant value in what LIDS Sports Group can do through the expansion of this brand." However, the release does not indicate whether the stores will be rebranded or whether they will continue to solely carry LSU merchandise. A LIDS company spokesman did not return a request for further comment this morning. The three area Tiger Mania stores are located at 4410 Highland Road, 8976 Interline Ave.,...
April sales tax collections in East Baton Rouge Parish show retail spending increased 9.3% on the month compared to April 2011, excluding vehicle sales. Spending was up 9.8% when vehicle sales were factored in. Those figures come from a new report out today from the city-parish Finance Department, which also says year-to-date retail spending is up 8% over 2011, including vehicle sales. Inside the city limits, sales tax collections totaled $7.3 million in April, an increase of 2.6% over the $7.1 million collected in April last year. In the parish, collections totaled $7.1 million in April, an 18.3% jump from the $6 million collected during the month last year. Check out the finance department’s complete April sales tax report here; and read some statements from Mayor Kip Holden on the increases here.
The Bass Pro Shops in Denham Springs is becoming what the developer Jacob Fa-Kouri envisioned when he began the project several years ago. Not only is the commercial area anchored by Bass Pro, it now has Sam's Club coming later this month. Joe Moore with Re/Max First continues bringing in deals for the project, with his latest being the sale of a one-acre parcel on Bass Pro Boulevard directly behind Back Yard Burgers. On June 1, Fa-Kouri sold the one-acre site to S.L. Shaw Properties and Mitch Rotolo for a total price of $807,602, or about $18 per square foot. The full story by appraiser Tom Cook, along with the rest of the new Real Estate Weekly e-newsletter, can be read here.
For the second year in a row, vacancy rates declined in the Capital Region's retail market last year, and for the first time in several years they're comfortably in the single digits.
This 36,000-square-foot addition to the Acadian-Perkins Plaza at the corner of Acadian Thruway and Perkins Road is scheduled for completion sometime in midsummer. The development will feature 18,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, and the same amount of office space on the second floor. Chris Town is the general contractor. See a rendering of the development here.
Legendary designer Trina Turk is teaming up with Banana Republic. Beginning June 7, the designer's prints and luxe touches will be available at the retailer's Capital City locations, which include the Mall of Louisiana and Towne Center. The limited-edition line features printed shorts, bright blouses, breezy dresses and swimwear, to name just a few. Pendant necklaces, floppy hats and several other accessories complete this capsule collection. To get resort-ready on a budget, keep this launch on your shopping radar, as designer collaborations tend to sell out quickly.
The Gonzales City Council on Tuesday is set to take a final vote on a proposed 1% sales tax increase at the Tanger Outlet Center that would be split by the outlet center and the city. Tanger would get 70% of the extra sales tax—which would boost total sales tax charged at outlet stores from 8.5 cents to 9.5 cents—and the city would get 30%, says Clay Stafford, Gonzales city clerk and finance director. Stafford says Tanger wants to use its share of the extra tax to expand the outlet mall by 30,000 square feet, and that the city wants to use its share to improve roadways and interchanges near the popular outlet mall—as well as to create a second entrance to it. "We think it's a win-win because we really need to improve the intersection at the interstate and the one nearby at Robert Wilson Road and (La.) highway 30," Stafford says. "Those have been tough fixes because they're state highways, and we've had trouble getting state funds for roads. But with the 2 cents we...
Editor: Costco just the latest beneficiary of B.R. 'corporate welfare'
The most pressing problem facing our great state, says Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball in his latest column, is "preserving every penny of tax credits, tax exemptions, tax loopholes and direct cash subsidies as well as every other corporate welfare program required to keep every business in this state from fleeing to Texas or Florida—the cost to Louisiana's bloated and unbalanced books be damned." The most recent case of this "corporate welfare," he says, is the Metro Council's approval of a $7.8 million tax incentive deal for Costco so it will locate a warehouse store at the intersection of Airline Highway and Interstate 12. The warehouse retailer will "soon ring up an estimated $150 million to $200 million in annual area sales," thanks to the Metro Council, Ball says. "The move into retail is new for Baton Rouge, which historically reserves its largesse for the hotel industry. Ever since tax increment financing made the rebirth of the downtown Capitol House...
In Costco we trust
The three great issues of our time in the Capital Region are these: 1) protecting our turf in the global economy by using any government means necessary to score jaw-dropping wins in the retail and hotel sectors; 2) whether the luring of big-box behemoth Costco secures Baton Rouge a much-coveted seat at the exclusive table of world-class cities (out of our way, Venice!); and 3) the future of City Park— more specifically, its par-32 golf course.
Hot and spicy
A camera captured the proud moment two decades ago: Then-Commissioner of Agriculture Bob Odom and a handful of executives from Louisiana's most prominent food manufacturing firms joined forces to launch the “Certified Cajun” logo in hopes of collectively distinguishing authentic Louisiana products on grocery store shelves.
The cost of Costco
In an effort to lure Costco to town, East Baton Rouge Parish has green-lighted what will be the parish's first economic development district for a retailer, triggering protests from critics who futilely proclaimed, “Retail is not economic development.”
Costco said to help B.R. become 'world-class city'
A planned Costco Wholesale store in Baton Rouge took a step toward fruition on Wednesday when the Metro Council approved a roughly $7.8 million incentive package for the retailer, a move supporters say is critical to making Baton Rouge a world-class city. "I don't know that you can have a world-class city, in my mind right now, without a Costco," says Patrick Mulhearn, director of studio operations at Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge at Celtic Media Centre. "And I know this because the California people and the people that come in from all over the country, they always ask me, 'Where's your Costco?' Well, we don't have one." The members-only warehouse retailer plans to build a 150,000-square-foot warehouse at the intersection of Airline Highway and Interstate 12 on the site of a former Coca-Cola bottling plant. The project had been on hold as Costco pushed for the incentive deal to help with road and infrastructure improvements at the site. William Daniel, chief administrative officer for...
B.R. Costco deal slightly larger than what wholesaler got in N.O.
The incentive deal that the Metro Council is considering approving for a proposed Costco Wholesale store in Baton Rouge is about $1 million larger than the roughly $6 million deal the store got from the New Orleans City Council last year. "It's very similar," says William Daniel, Mayor Kip Holden's chief administrative officer. "I think they had a location that had [fewer] challenges than we have, so New Orleans may not have had to do as much in infrastructure improvements." Like the $7 million deal the Baton Rouge council is considering, New Orleans officials approved a deal for Costco that rebated local sales taxes and provided for infrastructure improvements. Costco had requested as much as $9 million in incentives in New Orleans. If the deal is approved Wednesday by the Metro Council, the city-parish will provide a $7 million sales tax rebate, $5.5 million of which would go toward infrastructure and road improvements in the area. The other $1.5 million would go toward the $4.5...
Restaurateurs, retailers eye legislation to improve access to capital
Louisiana restaurateurs and retailers who have been holding off on a renovation could soon get some encouraging news. A measure is winding its way through Congress that would permanently extend the 15-year recovery period for qualified improvements on restaurant and retail properties. Proponents, including local restaurant owner Jim Urdiales, say the extension would spur construction. "If you guarantee a 15-year schedule over 30 years, we'll see some restaurants who were putting this off from last year go ahead and do it now," says Urdiales, who owns Mestizo Restaurant. The 15-year depreciation schedule would otherwise expire at the end of this year, giving some restaurant owners heartburn about moving forward with needed renovations. The National Restaurant Association estimates that restaurants undergo renovations every six to eight years just to stay current and combat the effects of daily high traffic. Sen. Robert Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, filed the measure last month.
Gambino's moving into Panache Plaza
Gambino's Bakery is moving into Panache Plaza. The world-renown baker of king cakes plans to move its Essen Lane location into the fledgling retail center at 8342 Perkins Road, between Essen and Bluebonnet Boulevard, by the end of the summer, says Gambino's manager Paul Scelfo. He says the new 2,100-square-foot space will be "more suitable to our customers' wishes, as well as our needs." That means a bigger retail area and a smaller kitchen. "The location we're in now is equipped for a lot more than what we do," he says. The New Orleans-based bakery has been in the Essen Lane location for almost three years, Scelfo says. —April Castro
Studio head rooting for Costco deal to close
Costco is interested in the former site of a Coca-Cola bottling facility off Airline Highway, and East Baton Rouge Parish officials are pushing for a tax incremental financing district to help close the deal. Patrick Mulhearn, who directs studio operations for Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge at the nearby Celtic Media Centre, is among those hoping the deal goes through. He says Celtic already is leasing a building on the site, and Celtic tenant Pixomondo is moving in. "We have gone ahead and renovated it, with the understanding that we're going to be able to acquire it," Mulhearn says. The problem is that Celtic only is interested in about six or seven acres of land, but Coca-Cola wants to sell the approximately 26-acre tract all at once. If Costco buys the land, Mulhearn says, then Celtic could buy what it wants from Costco. Celtic may build a mill shop on the new property, where sets could be constructed and decorated. Universal Pictures has booked space at Raleigh for a possible...
After more than five decades, Bible and Book Center closing
The Bible and Book Center at 4242 Government St. will close its doors for good on Saturday after 54 years in business. Competition from online retailers and big-box stores, which carry many of the Christian book series that have been a main staple of the shop's merchandise mix, have taken a toll, and the family-owned business can no longer compete, says owner Janet Dearman. "When we bought the business, there weren't any chain bookstores in town," says Dearman, whose parents, Jim and Billie Sykora, bought the store from its original owners in 1980. "Once Sam's and Walmart came into the market, things started to change." Online retailers exacerbated the problem, then Hurricane Gustav in 2008 forced the shop to remain closed for a week. "That was sort of the nail in the coffin," says Dearman. "We never really recovered from that." The Bible and Book Center is the last independently owned, non-denominational Christian bookstore in Baton Rouge, according to Dearman, though there are two...
Local business owners closely watching Internet sales tax bill
The fate of the Marketplace Fairness Act—a federal bill requiring online retailers to collect and remit sales taxes just as brick-and-mortar stores do—is being closely watched by Baton Rouge retailers who stand to be impacted by it. "I'm all for it, obviously," says Danny Plaisance, owner of Cottonwood Books on Perkins Road. "To be objective, if I was a vendor who sold books online all over the country, it would be very difficult, so I'd hate to have to be facing it. But in fairness, it does level the playing field." That's the general argument most brick-and-mortar retailers make when they're asked about the bill. Corey Tisdale, CEO of ShoppersChoice.com—which generates the majority of its revenue via online sales—says he doesn't support the bill and isn't convinced it's really about "leveling the playing field." Rather, he feels it will give large online retailers like Amazon.com—which is now supporting the bill after years of opposing the...
Claitor to start construction on second phase of shopping center
Jon Claitor says he is getting ready to begin construction on the 10,000-square-foot, second portion of his shopping center, Acadian-Perkins Plaza, at the corner of Perkins Road and South Acadian Thruway. Construction on the build-out is scheduled to begin in May, and will include seven retail spaces, five of which have tenant deals in the works, including a restaurant. Claitor tells Daily Report he expects to finalize those deals next week. Claitor has also signed a letter of intent with an undisclosed developer for the 12,500-foot-space that was occupied by CVS before fire destroyed the shopping center in January 2010. Claitor has signed a confidentiality agreement with the developer and cannot discuss specifics of the plans, which he says are related to family entertainment. —Stephanie Riegel
Furniture store and gallery to revive former Brandt's Maisonette site
When Greg Brandt abruptly closed Brandt's Maisonette in September 2011, he called the Mid City site where the gourmet French restaurant had operated for several years "the worst location in Baton Rouge." Perhaps it was not ideal for a high-end eatery. But a local purveyor of vintage and eclectic furniture is willing to give it another chance with a soon-to-open business that bills itself on its website as part retail space, part gallery and part interior design studio. Called Studio C, the establishment is located at 3786 Government St. and is the brainchild of Greg Vernice and Damien Boisvert, who recently returned from New York City, where they were in the retail furniture and design business. Merchandise will include vintage and eclectic furniture, accessories and art. The redevelopment of the vacant building is yet another boon, however small, to Mid City's primary commercial corridor—which over the weekend was the site of an event encouraging businesses and shoppers to...
Former Blockbuster on Millerville to become Mattress Firm
Mattress Firm is continuing its Baton Rouge expansion with a new location in the old Blockbuster store on Millerville Road near Interstate 12. The new location under development is expected to open within the next 30 days, says Dottie Tarleton, a broker with Stirling Properties who handled the leasing agreement. The 5,500-square-foot store is located in front of Super Target, near Best Buy, Lowe's, Petsmart, Office Depot and Chick-fil-A. It marks the sixth Baton Rouge Mattress Firm location. The new store also marks the final Baton Rouge Blockbuster to get a new tenant since the brick-and-mortar video rental retailer succumbed to the digital age. Shortly after Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010, the building was purchased in 2011 by Texas-based investor Edry Commercial Properties for a total price of $1 million. Almost a dozen former Blockbuster locations in Baton Rouge have been repurposed, including an Airline Highway location that also has been redeveloped into a Mattress...
Waiting on the state
Costco Wholesale Corp. is awaiting approval from the state on its plan to accommodate increased traffic flow expected near the intersection of Airline Highway and Interstate 12 once its wholesale superstore is built.
EBR sales tax collections fall 3% in February
Sales taxes collected in East Baton Rouge Parish totaled slightly more than $13 million in February, or about 3% less than was collected on retail and vehicle sales in February 2012, according to a new report released by the city-parish Finance Department. Excluding taxes on vehicle sales—which are considered a less reliable measure of economic conditions—collections in the city and parish were down more than 4% on the month: $12 million this year versus $12.5 million last year. Collections were down inside the city limits and outside, but less so outside the city. Inside the boundaries of Baton Rouge, combined retail and vehicle sales taxes netted slightly more than $7 million, which was a decrease of about 5% from February 2012. In the parish, combined collections totaled about $6 million, a decrease of less than 0.5% compared to collections the year previous. Year-to-date, combined collections in the city and parish are down 0.75% through the first two months of the...
Cortana manager confident mall can succeed after sale
The manager of Cortana Mall says he believes Baton Rouge is a "two-mall town" that has all the elements needed to revive the ailing shopping center at Airline Highway and Florida Boulevard. The 37-year old mall, which is just 54% occupied, is under new ownership after investors purchased the property last month for $6 million, promising to breathe new life into it. In its heyday, Cortana was the region's premier shopping destination. But since the Mall of Louisiana opened in 1997, Cortana has struggled with changing demographics and a loss of major retailers. Fred Meno, president and CEO of asset services for mall-manager The Woodmont Company, contends that Cortana is well-positioned for prosperity. With a good location and good traffic, he says, the fundamentals for retail success are already in place. A recent market analysis showed an estimated traffic count near the mall of 100,000 vehicles a day. The new owners, Moonbeam Equities, have a strategy to lure value-oriented retailers...
Costco awaiting DOTD approval of traffic flow plans
Costco Wholesale Corp. is awaiting approval from the state on plans to accommodate the increased traffic flow that the planned wholesale superstore is expected to bring to the intersection of Airline Highway and Interstate 12. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is reviewing the traffic study submitted by Costco and a final decision could come in a couple of months, says Amber Leach, a spokeswoman for the department. Leach says the traffic engineers are reviewing Costco's proposals to "make sure everything is going to adequately handle the volume of traffic that's going to come to that area." Costco has already been given the go-ahead from city-parish regulators to start construction on the retail warehouse, having received building permits and site plan approval for the estimated $12 million superstore. Detailed plans for the 148,000 square-foot facility and adjoining gas station with 16 pumps were filed with the Department of Public Works last month. Plans...
Casino considering new retail, restaurant developments
The Belle of Baton Rouge is exploring options to develop its atrium into a mixed-use space that would include new restaurants and retailers. The casino and hotel has hired a consulting firm to help it evaluate the interest level of vendors who might be a good fit for the 55,000-square-foot space. "We are hiring an outside consultant to help us fill up some of the retail space we have available," says Mike Donovan, marketing director for the downtown casino. "It's all contingent on us being able to get some sort of critical mass of folks who want to bring businesses down here." Donovan says the Belle has a master plan for developing the space but that the company doesn't want to "spend millions on a mixed-use facility and have no one in there." While the consultants evaluate options—a process that is expected to take several months—the Belle has made some changes to the facility to improve access and atmosphere. "We have doing some things on the atrium side with...
New Hope for Cortana
Struggling Cortana Mall could soon get a burst of fresh energy under new owners who purchased the 37-year-old shopping center on March 25. The group of investors, who organized in Louisiana in February as Cortana Mall LA, want to “do whatever we need to do to turn the project around,” says Sandra O'Clock, who handles acquisitions and transitions for Moonbeam Equity, the new owners' parent company. She says Nevada-based Moonbeam Equities has purchased at least seven other troubled shopping centers around the country over the past year with the goal of bringing shoppers and families back. O'Clock says the group views the acquisition as a long-term investment and plans to work with the community to develop a strategic plan to “re-tenant” the mall. The mall's occupancy rate currently hovers near 54%, significantly lower than the 89% occupancy level in the Baton Rouge retail market, according to a recent analysis . “We're still evaluating the project,”...
News alert: Cortana Mall sold
Cortana Mall has been purchased for $6 million by a group of investors who say they want to "bring it back to life." The group, Cortana Mall LA, was organized in Louisiana last month. The group's parent company, Nevada-based Moonbeam Equities, has purchased at least seven other underperforming shopping centers around the country over the past year, says Sandra O'Clock, who handles acquisitions and transitions for Moonbeam. She says the group views the acquisition as a long-term investment. "We're going to do whatever we need to do to turn the project around," O'Clock says. The sale was finalized Monday and O'Clock says the group has not yet developed plans. But, she says, the mall could see new tenants and a renovation. "We're still evaluating the project,” she says. “We need to get to know the community a little better.” The Woodmont Company will manage the mall, she says. –April Castro
Tenant lineup for Acadian Village announced
Commercial Properties Realty Trust announced this morning that, along with previously announced anchor tenant Trader Joe's, Kean's Fine Dry Cleaning, stationery company The Keeping Room, and Nadeau furniture store are some of the tenants to be included at the Acadian Village shopping center under development at the corner of Perkins Road and South Acadian Thruway. Also, Smarter Eyewear, Pei Wei restaurant, Baby Bump Maternity, Air Blow Dry Bar and La Divina Italian Cafe will also join the 70,000-square-foot center, Commercial Properties says. And as previously reported by Daily Report, Commercial Properties confirms Petco will also be among the retail center's tenants. "The mix of businesses in Acadian Village will serve the well-established surrounding neighborhoods and draw more shoppers to the thriving Perkins Road Overpass Area,"...
In the oven
Plans are under way for a new beer-and-pizza joint at the site of the former Stella Boutique on Perkins Road, which closed earlier this year.
'Injeanious' pants at Aria
There are two sides to every style of Bleulab pants. Each reversible pair of jeans comes with two distinct designs, doubling the outfit possibilities. Ideal for the traveling gal and generally for those who appreciate versatility, these jeans are moving quickly at Aria Boutique. Take a look on Aria’s Facebook page here.
Celebrity entrepreneur sees promise in B.R. startup
QVC and HSN, the giants of TV retailing, mostly sell to women, says infomercial pioneer Kevin Harrington. But Harrington, perhaps best known for his role on ABC's Shark Tank, says Baton Rouge's The Outdoor Shopper has a chance to reach the largely untapped male market. "This is possibly the first effort to build a following that is going to be male-focused," he says. Harrington currently serves as an unofficial, unpaid adviser to The Outdoor Shopper, but says one of his companies may get involved officially at some point if the local firm demonstrates that it can be a scalable enterprise. "What I'm trying to help them with is getting them to the next level," he says. The Outdoor Shopper already has broadcast on the Pursuit Channel; founder and CEO Speed Bancroft's goal is to establish a standalone network. The Outdoor Shopper describes itself as "the televised shopping show for the outdoor industry," including...
Walmart Supercenter put out to bid
Wal-Mart Corp. is moving forward with its plans for the long-awaited Walmart Supercenter on Bluebonnet Boulevard and Burbank Drive. According to a Data Fax report obtained by Daily Report, the Bentonville, Ark.-based corporation is putting the 160,000-square foot project out to bid on Tuesday, March 12. According to the report, the estimated cost of construction is $7 million, and three pre-qualified contractors are invited to bid: Clark Construction of McComb, Miss.; Crossland Construction of Columbus, Kan.; and Ewing Construction Co. of Corpus Christi, Texas. The total cost of the project—which was announced in 2008 but tabled for several years after the financial crisis began—is more than $11 million. A spokesman for Wal-Mart previously said the store is scheduled to open in mid-2014. The Walmart Supercenter is the latest of several developments in the burgeoning area. Last fall, RaceTrac Petroleum acquired an 80,000-square-foot site directly across from the...
Hair cut
The Gaudet Bros. salon at its Garden District location, 1284 Perkins Road, had its last day of business Feb. 7. Owner Micah Nickens says on Jan. 25 he received a stop work order from the city on the planned expansion of his popular salon into the former Tiger District warehouse next door.
Federal bill would make online retailers collect sales taxes
Louisianans may have no way of getting around higher sales taxes that are included in Gov. Bobby Jindal's tax reform plan if the revitalized Marketplace Fairness Act keeps gaining traction in Congress. The federal bill seeks to level the playing field between brick-and-mortar retailers and online giants like Amazon by forcing the latter to collect sales tax at the time of purchase. On Thursday, Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu threw her support behind the bill, joining a bipartisan group of 53 senators and representatives. Corey Tisdale, CEO of ShoppersChoice.com, which does the bulk of its business online and also has a store on Coursey Boulevard, says the bill "is headed in the right direction." Yet Tisdale says, in its current form, it doesn't address his concerns for having to disclose customer information to other state governments. "I would like to see more safeguards about protecting privacy," Tisdale says. The Heritage Foundation and eBay are against the
Ethan Allen plans March opening on Perkins Road
After nearly 40 years near Cortana Mall on Florida Boulevard, the Ethan Allen Design Center is moving to 10300 Perkins Road, the former location of Young Fashions Uniform Outfitters. Todd Grand, the franchisee of Ethan Allen, says an official opening on Perkins Road—across from Perkins Rowe—is expected in the first half of March. The building has undergone an extensive renovation for Ethan Allen, Grand says. "We feel that it will be something that you won't see anywhere else in Baton Rouge, and it will be truly state of the art," he adds. Ethan Allen will hire up to 50% more employees, Grand says, in anticipation of increased sales in the retail-intensive corridor. "That's a dynamite location that's right in the heart of our demographic," Grand says. Ethan Allen has been located on Florida Boulevard since 1974. A retailer reportedly has a verbal agreement to move into the Grand family-owned building on Florida Boulevard and could be revealed in coming weeks, Grand says.
U.S. retail sales barely rise following tax increase
Americans spent slightly more last month at retail businesses and restaurants after higher taxes cut their paychecks. The small increase suggests consumer spending may be weak in the January-March quarter, which could stymie economic growth. Retail sales ticked up 0.1% in January from December, the Commerce Department says in a report released this morning. That follows a 0.5% increase in December and is the smallest in three months. Sales fell at auto dealerships, clothing stores and furniture stores. They rose at home-improvement stores, gas stations and online retailers. So-called core retail sales—which exclude autos, building materials, and gas stations—ticked up 0.2%. Economists pay close attention to core sales because they strip out the most volatile categories. The retail sales report is the government's first look at consumer spending, which drives 70% of economic activity. Nearly all working Americans are taking home less pay this year. Congress and the White...
Livingston officials expect Juban Crossing announcement soon
In the next two weeks, Livingston Parish officials expect developer Creekstone Companies to reveal which big retailers are coming to Juban Crossing, the long-delayed, mixed-use development off Interstate 12 between Denham Springs and Walker. The project has experienced some setbacks since breaking ground in February 2011, and perhaps none bigger than a veto of Senate Bill 673 by Gov. Bobby Jindal in June last year. The bill would have created a special taxing district within Juban Crossing to help finance up to $45 million of infrastructure improvements in the development. After Jindal vetoed the bill, the state Department of Transportation and Development informed Creekstone that roundabouts would have to be constructed at Juban Crossing's entrances rather than T-bone intersections with stoplights. "It was like a one-two punch," says Livingston Parish President Layton Ricks. While the parish supports roundabouts, Ricks says, Juban Crossing already had leases in place in locations...
Gaudet Bros. salon to close in Garden District
Thursday will be the last day of operation for Gaudet Bros. salon at its Garden District location at 1284 Perkins Road, says owner Micah Nickens. On Jan. 25, Nickens received a stop work order from the city on the planned expansion of his popular salon into the former Tiger District warehouse next door. Though the property is zoned for commercial use, Nickens has weighed his options and decided to relocate the business. Featured as one of 225's People to Watch in 2013, the longtime stylist and current Culture Candy board member had plans for the expanded salon that included art, fashion and music events as well as the retail location for NOLA Fashion Week founder Andi Eaton's new clothing line. Nickens says he hopes to find a new location in Mid City or downtown. "I can't change the business model, but I can change the location," Nickens says. According to the...
The grass is greener
Now that the holidays have passed and you've been inspired all over again by Mom's cooking, local tech guru Logan Leger—featured in our May 2012 cover story on entrepreneurs—has released a new app for Apple devices called Extreme Cajun Cooking (extremecajuncooking.com). The Louisiana-inspired app contains photos, recipes, techniques and a handy check-off grocery list for bringing the area's legendary dishes into the information age.
Stay gold
In short order, 23-year-old LSU graduate student Emily Garrett has seen her modest Etsy-based jewelry business go global, shipping her handmade designs to buyers in Europe, Australia and Canada. Here she tells 225 about her creative small business.
Setting up shop
When is a pharmacy not just a pharmacy? When a lot of eyes and hopes are on it as a touchstone for future downtown development, both commercial and residential.
New neighborhood off Nicholson to include retailers
The population of south Baton Rouge along Nicholson Drive has grown a lot in recent years with the creation of new residential developments, but everyday necessities, such as gas and groceries, still remain far for most. That's why developer Greg Flores is planning to build retail and commercial office space for a 274-lot neighborhood, Lexington Park, to the south of Lexington Estates. "It'd be great to have a small, deli-style grocery there," Flores says. He also anticipates the possibility that a bank and other retailers, such as a dry cleaners store, could move to the Nicholson development. Lexington Park, which is technically a third phase of Lexington Estates, will bring the total number of homes Flores has built in the area to 442. The first phase was built in 2006. Before new homes are built, Flores says, he'll first build a clubhouse at the entrance to Lexington Park that will provide a pool, tennis courts and baseball field for the neighborhoods. The rear of Lexington Park...
Tough times for retail
Nearly eight years ago, Katie Jacob Dallimore had a vision: unique contemporary woman's boutique that carried everything from swimsuits to cocktail dresses.
Holiday shoppers' late spending surge saves big U.S. retailers
A last-minute surge in spending helped many major retailers report better-than-expected sales in December, a relief for stores that make up to 40% of annual revenue during the holiday period. Consumers had a lot to worry about this holiday, including the possibility of the U.S. economy falling off the "fiscal cliff." But after spending cautiously during most of the season, they loosened their purse strings in the final shopping days. Twenty retailers reported sales in December rose an average of 4.5% compared with the year-ago period, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. That's on the high end of the expected range of 4% to 4.5%. Costco, Nordstrom and TJX Cos. were among the best performers. Target and Barnes & Noble had weaker results.
Holiday sales strong for some local retailers
Holiday sales may have been sluggish across the country overall, but some local retailers say for them, the 2012 season was a banner one. Lee Michaels Jewelers, for instance, is on pace for its best year of retail sales ever since its founding 35 years ago. “This is our best Christmas on record, and our best November on record,” says Scott Berg, market president for Lee Michaels in Baton Rouge. If the trend continues through the company's fiscal year ending in April, Lee Michaels could surpass its record year in 2007, Berg says. At Perkins Rowe, retailers also reported strong holiday sales, though exact numbers are not yet available. General manager Tony Stephens says the development had healthy crowds throughout the season and that local and national retailers there have suggested it was a good season. —Adam Pearson
Towne Center owner puts Dallas mall up for sale
Creekstone Companies, which owns Towne Center in Baton Rouge and is developing Juban Crossing in Livingston Parish, has put up for sale a 230,000-square-foot mall in Dallas, according to The Dallas Morning News. The Preston Center Pavilion & Square is the only such retail property in Creekstone's portfolio aside from the two aforementioned Capital Region developments. It's located in the heart of Dallas' most upscale residential community, according to the Creekstone website, and is host to a mix of tenants including Marshalls, Ross, DSW Shoes, Office Depot, CVS Pharmacy, Sleep Experts, Pei Wei, Chipotle and Sonic. It was redeveloped in 2000. The Houston-based firm picked up the property in 2005. You can find the full story here.
Ethan Allen move just one example of Baton Rouge's changing commercial corridors
Customers looking for bargains are packing the Ethan Allen store on Florida Boulevard near Airline Highway this week, as it is offering deeply discounted prices on its high-end furniture in preparation for its move early next year to a new location. The store, which has occupied the same site for more than 30 years, is moving to a newly renovated building it purchased earlier this year on Perkins Road at Bluebonnet, across from Perkins Rowe. The owners say the long-established business has had continually strong sales. The move across town says a lot about the shifting demographics in Baton Rouge and where retailers perceive the action to be. "You want to be located where your customers shop," says realtor Chad Ortte, adding that Ethan Allen owner Todd Grand spent three years scouting for a new south Baton Rouge location before settling on the strip center he has...
Shoppers disappoint retailers this holiday season
U.S. holiday sales so far this year have been the weakest since 2008, when the nation was in a deep recession. That puts pressure on stores that now hope for a post-Christmas burst of spending. This year's holiday season was marred by bad weather and uncertainty about the economy in the face of possible tax hikes and spending cuts early next year. Some analysts say the massacre of schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., earlier this month may also have chipped away at shoppers' enthusiasm. Sales for the two months before Christmas increased 0.7% compared with last year, according to a MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report. That's way below the healthy 3% to 4% growth that analysts had expected—and the worst year-over-year performance since 2008, when spending shrank sharply during the Great Recession. But stores still have some time to make up lost ground. The final week of December accounts for about 15% of the month's sales, says Michael McNamara, vice president for research and...
'Real Estate Weekly': Construction on Sportsman's Plaza in Gonzales expected to start in spring
Sportsman's Plaza, a 10,800-square-foot retail strip center on Cabela's Parkway in Gonzales—situated near both the Cabela's outdoors store and the Tanger Outlets—should break ground in the spring. Steve Legendre with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate, who's marketing the property for its developer, says a deal to secure the land should be completed in early January, with construction to begin in March or April. "We have about 5,000 square feet pre-leased to a Chinese restaurant, and we've been speaking to a number of local and regional companies who have expressed interest," Legendre says. The development, which will be built on a 58,000-square-foot site, could house up to as many three other tenants, he says, or as few as one more. "I'd love to get a barbecue place in there. I've spoken with Voodoo BBQ and some others; and they've considered the site," Legendre says. "It's a little too early to say who might end up in there, but I think once we start getting it out of the...
Construction on Sportsman's Plaza in Gonzales expected to start in spring
Sportsman's Plaza, a 10,800-square-foot retail strip center on Cabela's Parkway in Gonzales—situated near both the Cabela's outdoors store and the Tanger Outlets—should break ground in the spring. Steve Legendre with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate, who's marketing the property for its developer, says a deal to secure the land should be completed in early January, with construction to begin in March or April. "We have about 5,000 square feet pre-leased to a Chinese restaurant, and we've been speaking to a number of local and regional companies who have expressed interest," Legendre says. The development, which will be built on a 58,000-square-foot site, could house up to as many three other tenants, he says, or as few as one more. "I'd love to get a barbecue place in there. I've spoken with Voodoo BBQ and some others; and they've considered the site," Legendre says. "It's a little too early to say who might end up in there, but I think once we start getting it out of the...
New Mid City furniture store hand-crafting custom designs
Got the perfect piece of furniture in mind, but can't find it? Ever seen the right dresser, but thought it could use two more drawers? Joel Davis says his new Mid City store, Wooden Haven Furniture Co., can custom design and have nearly any piece of furniture hand-built within six months. “There's a lot of people out there that have been looking for a piece of furniture for years, and can't find it—why wait anymore?” asks Davis, who opened the store Dec. 1 at 4173 Government St. with his wife, Danielle. Joel Davis says he and his wife traveled to Indonesia before opening their store and found their own furniture makers. Davis works with the customers on the design, sends an email to Indonesia and the furniture is shipped to the United States. He says furniture prices had gotten too high at their former furniture store, De Madera in Lafayette, which they co-owned with another business partner before closing it last year. “You bring us a concept, and we build...
Rhorer: New corner store a good addition to downtown, yet not 'a real grocery store'
DDD Executive Director Davis Rhorer was as surprised as anyone when, in the process of doing a television interview Wednesday on new downtown projects, he saw a sign going up for a corner store at Third Street and Florida Boulevard, with an application for a liquor permit pasted to the door. "I checked it out real quick," says Rhorer, who concedes he was initially concerned that the planned establishment would amount to little more than a packaged liquor store. But after talking to the store's owner, Michael Matroodnejad, Rhorer says he is optimistic the store will be more like a New York City¬–style corner store, with a mix of convenience items and groceries. The store will not, however, fill the need for a full-service grocery store, something Rhorer has been trying to bring to downtown for several years. "I am encouraged by what this could mean for downtown," he says. "But we still need a real grocery store." Matroodnejad and his business partner have been invited to address...
Late shoppers, late sales likely to converge for Christmas shopping spree this weekend
The typical holiday shopping season has four weekends packed in it between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, there are five. That calendar rarity has slightly slowed Christmas shopping during the week at Baton Rouge area retail centers, but managers say they expect procrastinators to be shopping heavily this weekend—the last opportunity to do so before Christmas. "I fully expect this weekend to be crazier than past Christmases because people have been putting it off," says John Taylor, manager of Tanger Outlets in Gonzales, adding that traffic is heavier than last year at the outdoor shopping mall. However, construction for six new stores slated to open in April—J. Crew, Under Armour, Brooks Brothers, American Eagle, Ann Taylor Loft and Talbots—has taken up parking space that is normally available and has made driving conditions tighter. The Mall of Louisiana also expects a very busy weekend, as weekday shoppers have been slightly less numerous this year.
Barnes & Noble: Bookstore not affected by listing of CitiPlace building
A building that's home to one of Barnes & Noble's three Baton Rouge bookstores, at 2590 CitiPlace Court, has hit the market for an undisclosed price, but a company official says any potential sale will have no impact on the store. "We just renewed the lease there, and my suspicion is, when it comes up to the end of the term, we will take another look at renewing it," says Barnes & Noble Vice President of Development David Deason, adding the recently inked lease is good for another "five or six years." The 34,325-square-foot building was constructed in 1996, according to the listing, and is located on a 107,161-square-foot lot. Deason says Barnes & Noble, like most major retailers, leases all of its locations and that sales of the buildings they are located within are not uncommon. "These are commodities that are traded on a daily basis," he says. "My guess is, if you look online you could find 250 of our stores" that are located in buildings listed for sale. Barnes & Noble recently...
Recession, e-commerce have traditional malls in the lurch
Abigail DePino has yet to purchase a single Christmas gift from a brick-and-mortar store this year. All of her shopping is done online. The 28-year-old Watson resident has been to the Mall of Louisiana just twice this year, and while Cortana Mall is closer to home, she avoids it altogether—save for the occasional trip to the adjacent Bed Bath & Beyond. "It's nice to be able to go to the mall with friends and my sister, walk around, window shop and grab dinner together. It's kind of like a day out," DePino says. "But it's a 45-minute drive into Baton Rouge, and who wants to wait in line?" The recession, waffling consumers, demographic shifts and thriving e-commerce are all threats to what once set the standard for retail shopping: the mall. Traditional enclosed retail centers have given way to open-air lifestyle centers, which themselves are now struggling to compete with the convenience and comfort of online purchasing. Per-capita spending in shopping centers fell to $7,176...
Costco files plans for B.R. store, but land deal still not done
Costco Wholesale Corp. has filed a concept plan with the East Baton Rouge Parish Planning Commission to build a 149,000-square-foot warehouse store at the site of the former Coca-Cola bottling plant on Airline Highway. The national warehouse club signed a purchase agreement in April for an undisclosed price to acquire the 28-acre site from Coca-Cola Bottling Company United Gulf Coast. Though the sale has not been finalized, the company is apparently moving forward with plans for its first location in the Baton Rouge market. According to the application for preliminary site plan approval, which the company filed Thursday, Costco plans to build a warehouse retail building that will include an attached tire center and a freestanding gas station. Three outparcels will also be available on the site for future development. The application says if Costco gains all necessary permits and approvals, demolition of the old facility and construction of the new one should take six months and the...
Kitchen store in Towne Center closing
BD Kitchen Co.—one of the city's only locally owned kitchen stores—is closing its Towne Center location at the end of the month, less than two years after opening. Owners Bill Bethea and Ronnie Daley attribute their decision to permanently shutter the store to a lack of marketing support from shopping center management and a lack of foot traffic, something that has been a common complaint of retailers located on the "back," or Jefferson Highway side, of the development. "I need 90 people a day walking in front of my store—with half coming in—to make this business work," Bethea says. "We weren't getting one-tenth of that." The 3,000-square-foot space was the second location in Towne Center for BD Kitchen; it previously was located in a smaller space on the Corporate Boulevard side, commonly considered the "front," of the shopping center. Bethea and Daley say they regularly complained to management about the lack of marketing support, but to no avail. In a...
Mall malaise
Abigail DePino has yet to purchase a single Christmas gift from a brick-and-mortar store this year. All of her shopping is done online.
News alert: New appraisal values Perkins Rowe at $95 million
The estimated value of Perkins Rowe is up 10% over just a few months ago. That's according to an updated appraisal that was filed earlier today in the foreclosure suit surrounding the mixed-use development. The new appraisal estimates Perkins Rowe is worth some $95 million, compared to the $86 million appraisal that was filed in the court record earlier this year. The new higher value reflects a rare win-win in the protracted case for both the lender, KeyBank National Associates, and the developer, Tommy Spinosa, who had successfully challenged the bank's earlier appraisal. The new appraisal means he is potentially on the hook for at least a little less of the roughly $200 million the court has ruled he owes to KeyBank. A spokesperson for KeyBank attributes the higher appraisal to good management and maintenance of the property, as well as the securing of new leases. She says the bank will now file to set the date for a foreclosure sale. —Stephanie Riegel
Retailers report weak sales gains for November
Black Friday was apparently no match for Superstorm Sandy. Major retailers from Target to Macy's are today reporting weak November sales, as the strong start to the holiday shopping season—including a good showing on the day after Thanksgiving—wasn't enough to fully offset the damage caused by Sandy earlier in the month. The storm stunted enthusiasm among shoppers in the Northeast during the first couple of weeks of November just as stores were preparing for the busiest shopping period of the year: a roughly two-month stretch at year's end when they can make up to 40% of their annual revenue. "It really took away the punchbowl for retailers and put them behind the eight ball heading into the crucial weekend," says Ken Perkins, president of research firm RetailMetrics. Eighteen retailers today reported that November sales at stores open at least a year—an indicator of a retailer's health—through last Saturday were up 1.7% compared with the year-ago period,...
B.R. area TV stations see rise in holiday ad spending
Early economic indicators suggest the holiday shopping season will be a good one for retailers, and it is also shaping up to be a good one for the area's media outlets. Though local television stations are unable to provide exact numbers, they say holiday-related ad sales are up over this time last year. "Spending on ads is definitely better than last year, and last year was up over 2010," says Denise Robichaux, director of sales at WBRZ-TV. Local CBS affiliate WAFB-TV reports a similar, positive trend. "Everyone is very optimistic," says local sales manager Ellen Salmon. Helping fuel fourth-quarter ad sales, no doubt, is the availability of local spots, which were gobbled up by political ad buys during the campaign season. Even though Louisiana was not a so-called battleground state in the presidential election and didn't see the kind of massive spending as some other states did, candidates in the local mayor's and Louisiana Supreme Court races purchased airtime at a premium that...
'12 Days of Christmas' items jump 6% in cost to $107,300
If you want to buy someone those seven swans, six geese or five golden rings in the traditional "12 Days of Christmas" carol this year, they're going to cost you a bit more than last year. That's according to the so-called Christmas Price Index that PNC Wealth Management updates annually. If you get all 364 items collectively named in all the verses of the song, you'll pay 6.1% more this year than last year. The total comes to $107,300. "The rise is larger than expected considering the modest economic growth we've had," says Jim Dunigan, managing executive of investments for PNC. He notes that the government's Consumer Price Index has risen just 2% in the 12 months before September. Thrifty shoppers may find some reasons for cheer. Six items mentioned in the song haven't gone up in price: maids-a-milking, ladies dancing, lords-a-leaping, calling birds, turtle doves and the partridge. The eight maids-a-milking still cost just $58 because the minimum wage hasn't risen. Twelve drummers...
Turkoyz jewelry and home furnishings coming to Towne Center
A jewelry store and home furnishing store, both based in Jackson, Miss., are moving to Towne Center by early next year. The owners, Alan and Fran Weeks, say they plan to open both Turkoyz and Turkoyz @ HOME near one another in January or February. The jewelry store, Turkoyz, will be located near Mignon Faget. Alan Weeks says Turkoyz will not be in direct competition with the fine jewelry store. "We're more fashion jewelry," he says. Turkoyz @ HOME will be located next to American Eagle Outfitters and RussoRoss. Alan Weeks says Turkoyz has eyed an expansion into the Baton Rouge market for a while because college towns have proven to be a valuable market. Turkoyz is also located in Hattiesburg and Oxford, Miss., as well as Covington and Memphis, Tenn. The first store opened in Jackson six years ago. Turkoyz @ HOME is making Baton Rouge its third location, with other stores in Jackson and Memphis. The stores carry small furniture, picture frames, candles, and about 10 different pottery...
Stella Boutique to close after holidays
Stella Boutique has plans to close indefinitely early next year, says owner Katie Dallimore, who gave birth to triplets on May 17. "It's not the decision I wanted to make, because I love my business and I love my customers," Dallimore says. "Now they'll get my full attention," she adds, referring to her three infants. Dallimore opened Stella nearly eight years ago at 3033 Perkins Road. Stella's departure will mark the third store in the Perkins Road overpass area to announce its exit in the past two months. In late September, Loft 3H announced its move to Corporate Boulevard. In October, Bosco's Frozen Yogurt closed the store it had opened in July, next to Jimmy John's in the Perkins Road Hardware complex. Dallimore says she didn't...
Charles Landry: Retail developers not sure what the consumer wants
While there's plenty of money available for existing, well-performing properties, big regional retail developments remain hard to finance, says real estate attorney Charles Landry. "They're trying to figure out, 'What is it that the consumer wants?' " he says. "I don't think you'll ever see a Mall of Louisiana–type structure built around Louisiana again." But he says we also probably won't see many more of the open-air lifestyle centers that were all the rage for developers in the years before the crash but now are struggling in many cases. He says there continues to be plenty of interest in existing, performing properties. "I'm as busy as I was five years ago," he says. "But it's a different play. … What you're seeing a lot in Louisiana is a bunch of nice properties being traded right now. There's a lot of cash [available], and people are looking for something they can depend on." —David Jacobs
U.S. retail sales, wholesale prices drop in October
October reports out this morning from the federal government show retail prices dipped for consumers while wholesale prices also declined. Americans cut back on spending at retail businesses in October, an indication that some remain cautious about the economic outlook. Superstorm Sandy also depressed car sales and slowed business in the Northeast at the end of the month. The Commerce Department reports that sales dropped 0.3% after three months of gains. Auto sales fell 1.5%, the most in more than a year. Excluding the volatile categories of autos, gas and building materials, sales fell 0.1%. The government says Sandy "had both positive and negative effects" on sales. Some stores and restaurants closed and lost business. Others reported sales increases ahead of the storm as people bought supplies. Meanwhile, wholesale prices fell in October as a big drop in gasoline and other energy prices offset a rise in the cost of food. Wholesale prices dipped 0.2% last month, the Labor...
Big 3Q for Home Depot signals improving U.S. housing market
Home Depot reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit this morning and raised its full-year outlook, as the world's largest home improvement chain benefited from a recent uptick in the U.S. housing market. Reuters reports the nascent national recovery in housing has encouraged professional contractors to buy more in recent months. Home Depot has also gained from its own efforts to improve distribution, cut costs, and localize marketing and merchandising. "Our third-quarter results were better than we expected and reflected, in part, what we believe is the start of the path toward the healing of the housing market," says Home Depot CEO Frank Blake. Net earnings rose to $947 million in the third quarter of this year, up from $934 million a year earlier. Home Depot has been taking market share from rival Lowe's with the help of better pricing and customer service, analysts say. Lowe's, which has lagged behind Home Depot in same-store sales for 13 straight quarters, plans to report...
Jarreau proposing $20M project in Lake Charles
Baton Rouge developer Donnie Jarreau has offered $957,500 to buy 3.7 acres of land in Lake Charles on which he's proposing to develop a housing and business project called Ryan Street Lofts. The (Lake Charles) American Press reports Jarreau is among three developers vying for the property, which was formerly the longtime home of Sears. The city, which purchased the property in the 600 block of Ryan Street in 2006 for $766,000, is expected to choose a developer for the project this week. Jarreau is proposing a $20 million project consisting of commercial space, 188 multifamily units, and on-site parking. His plan includes a 30- to 60-day period to close the land deal, followed by a 180-day Federal Housing Administration financing process. Jarreau is the high bidder on the land among the three proposals being considered. Lake Charles developer Roger Landry has offered $628,000, with plans to build a residential and retail facility that would be home to 166 luxury apartments and...
Privé packs up
Retail stores come and go from day to day in the Capital Region—usually with little fanfare beyond a grand opening or an everything-must-go sale.
Warren Sager
POSITION Co-founder and COO
COMPANY Internet Retail Connection
WHAT THEY DO Build online sales portals that sell from wholesalers to consumers
REVENUE $7 million last year
NEXT GOAL Increase websites' search engine rankings
Two specialty boutiques move to Highland Place
Highland Place, the upscale shopping center on Highland Road near Perkins Road, has two new tenants—and they are both locally owned, specialty boutiques. Elle Apparel & Accessories, which caters to tweens and juniors with fashionable yet affordable dresses and apparel, opened earlier this week in a 1,038-square-foot space. Lukka, which will sell high-end women's shoes, clothing and accessories, is opening next month in a nearby 1,400-square-foot space. "The entrepreneurial spirit is still very much alive and well," says Mark Hebert, of Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate, who inked the deals. "That area is particularly attractive because within a five-mile radius of that area you have the highest household income in the state." That demographic is, in part, what attracted Elle's owners, friends Debi Grymes and Laura Maestri, to the site. Grymes previously owned The Little House in Towne Center, which has been closed several years, while Maestri owned The Enchanted Closet on...
Big investors spar over company that owns Mall of Louisiana
Just two years after activist investor William Ackman and Canadian investment powerhouse Brookfield Asset Management joined forces to pull mall giant General Growth Properties out of bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reports the two owners are squabbling. Ackman wants General Growth—which owns the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge and roughly 150 other malls across the country—to consider selling itself for what he expects would be a big premium. For its part, Brookfield prefers to stay the course and focus on improvements to the company's malls, which also include flagships Ala Moana Center in Honolulu and Grand Canal Shoppes in Las Vegas. The bickering is escalating, even though both owners have already made enormous profits on their investments. For Brookfield, which owns a 42% stake in Chicago-based General Growth including warrants, the $3.5 billion it invested in General Growth since 2009 has more than doubled in value. Ackman invested about $60 million in...
Louisiana bicentennial guns boost commission sales
"Get the shotguns while you can," says Julie Vezinot, director of the Louisiana Bicentennial Commission, because the state's official bicentennial Ruger .22 rifles are sold out. As of noon today, Vezinot says, just 52 Browning .12-gauge shotguns remain for sale at $1,812—the price set to honor the year Louisiana became the 18th state of the Union. Due to the recession and budget cuts, the commission initially had no money to play with for bicentennial parades, ceremonies or even Louisiana history classes for schools. So the commission turned to coins, posters, T-shirts, CDs, lapel pins, cocktail glasses, and pendants in an effort to raise about $100,000. But retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, chairman of the commission, had an even better marketing idea: combine commemoration of the state and its sportsman culture by emblazoning the bicentennial logo on the wood-grain stock of Rugers, as well as fashioning and engraving the event's logo and coin on the sides of Brownings.
EBR retail spending posts smallest rise of 2012 in August
Sales tax collections inside the Baton Rouge city limits posted a year-over-year decline during August for the first time in 2012, down 1.86% compared to last August, according to a new report from the city-parish Finance Department. Collections outside the limits, however, were up enough—3.21%—to make up for the interior decline and put combined collections up 0.52% compared to August 2011. Collectively, the city and parish netted $13.9 million in August, or about $72,000 more than during August 2011. It's the lowest combined increase in collections yet this year. The next-lowest increase came in January, when collections were up 6.8%, or about $832,000, compared to the same month a year earlier. In every other month this year, increases have exceeded 7%. The best month thus far in 2012 has been May, when collections in the city-parish were up 13.6%, or $1.8 million. Year-to-date, combined collections stand at $114.4 million through August, up about 8% over the roughly...
Male shoppers embrace online shopping as haven from mall
Fashion is the fastest-growing segment of online commerce, and it's being propelled by an atypical source: men. Men who have had to live with department stores designed primarily for women are flocking to websites such as Bonobos and Thrillist that push convenience and a fast shopping experience. And these sites are capturing a growing part of the $41 billion fashion e-commerce market by providing services like recommending items based on personality or shipping trunks of clothes to a guy's home so he can pick. Thrillist, for example, gives men tips for activities or products and then sells them. Its founder, Ben Lerer, tells Bloomberg: "Men don't hate fashion; they just hate shopping the way it's designed for women." And he points to a generational difference among male shoppers: "The young generation of guys love to shop; they love to talk about the brands they like, and they really care about how they look." While women's share of the online clothing market is still more...
Joe knows
Trader Joe’s, a 13,000-square-foot specialty supermarket, will be the anchor tenant for a 54,000-square-foot shopping center, Acadian Village, at Perkins Road and Acadian Thruway.
Port Allen Walgreens under way; B.R. store to open Nov. 2
A 15,000-square-foot Walgreens is about four months away from being completed in Port Allen, and another further along in Baton Rouge at Highland Road and Lee Drive is scheduled to open on Nov. 2, says Jonathan Lanza, vice president of Lanco Construction, which is constructing both. The Walgreens in Port Allen, at 220 North Alexander St., is replacing a grocery store that was leveled for the pharmacy's construction after having sat vacant for a number of months. "It's the newer prototype design Walgreens is using—the same that's being used on the one at Highland and Lee. It's a more modern look," Lanza says. West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kathy Stuart says the Port Allen store will be the first big-box pharmacy in Port Allen. "Our local mom-and-pop pharmacies do a great job … but this is a nice addition to that part of the city. And of course, it will add to the attractiveness of downtown Port Allen," she says. "We've been seeing more interest...
Property of the Week
Trader Joe's has released renderings of the 13,000-square-foot specialty supermarket that will serve as anchor tenant of a 54,000-square-foot shopping center in Acadian Village at the corner of Perkins Road and Acadian Thruway. The grocery store is scheduled to open next September. Commercial Properties Real Estate Trust is developing the project. It's being designed by Antunovich Associates of Chicago. Trader Joe's says the store's interior will feature a festive décor that mixes cedar covered walls and Hawaiian motifs with local art. See additional renderings of the project here.
Trader Joe's releases renderings for Baton Rouge store
We're getting our first peek at the long-awaited Trader Joe's grocery store, which is scheduled to open next September in the Acadian Village at Perkins Road and Acadian Thruway. Daily Report has obtained a copy of architectural renderings for the 13,000-square-foot specialty supermarket, which will be the anchor tenant for a 54,000-square-foot shopping center that will include several other high-end, well-known national retailers, says Tina Rance, marketing director for the property. "We are in the final lease stages with several tenants that will be a great addition to the Baton Rouge market," says Rance, who works for Commercial Properties Real Estate Trust, which is developing the project. "Baton Rouge is the first Louisiana location for Trader Joe's, and we feel that it will be a regional draw as well." Renderings for the project, which is being designed by architects Antunovich Associates of Chicago, depict a stylish brick façade with a distinctly Louisiana flair,...
Loft 3H plans move from Perkins to Corporate
Loft 3H, the boutique on Perkins Road that has dressed up the overpass area for five years, is moving to the 7400 block of Corporate Boulevard next month to provide easier access to its customers, says owner Keith Kimble. By the second weekend of October, Loft 3H plans to have opened across the street from Towne Center in the shopping center housing businesses including Christian Street Furniture and Envy the Salon. "We just felt that was a better location," Kimble says. The move comes on the heels of Loft 3H's late-June expansion in New Orleans on Magazine Street, near Louisiana Street and the same block of The Bulldog and American Apparel. Kimble says he and his business partner Danny Watts have had double the sales on Magazine Street compared to Perkins Road. "And we've done no advertising, we've been open only three months—it's location," he says. Loft 3H's floor space on Corporate will be very similar to that of the Perkins location, Kimble says, adding that he has no...
Towne Center losing a lingerie boutique, has two new tenants lined up
At Privé Lingerie Boutique in Towne Center, lingerie is on sale 60% to 70% off—"some of it more than that," says owner Heather Savoy. And by Tuesday, the final day of business for Privé, Savoy hopes to have it all sold. The boutique will close its doors for good next week, Savoy says, with the termination of its lease. "It's been five years, and it's time to move on from that," Savoy says, noting her niche boutique stumbled with the stagnant economy a few years ago and hasn't fully recovered. "It just doesn't make a lot of sense to keep doing it," she says. Savoy says she's going back to work in residential real estate full-time—which she did for 12 years prior to opening Privé in 2007—and focus more on her three children. She says she was supported well by a core clientele, but is moving her abundant luxury stock at thrifty prices. The $100 luxury bras are on sale for $20, for example. Privé Lingerie Boutique is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and closed Sunday. Towne...
Mall of Louisiana owner won't take up push to hit sales block
Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., which owns 150 shopping malls across the United States—including the Mall of Louisiana—has rebuffed activist shareholder Bill Ackman's efforts to push it to consider a sale, The Wall Street Journal reports. General Growth's board argues that the gains it has made since leaving bankruptcy protection in 2010 support additional improvement as a stand-alone company. General Growth has roughly $20 billion in debt and an equity value of $19.3 billion. Ackman, one of the architects of the recapitalization plan that lifted General Growth out of bankruptcy, has argued the company's shareholders would be best served by a sale. Ackman has specifically mentioned Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc., the nation's largest mall owner, as a possible buyer. But Bloomberg
Young Fashions moving to Coursey; Ethan Allen to take its spot on Perkins
After nearly 20 years at the same location at 10300 Perkins Road, Young Fashions Uniform Outfitters is moving to 11111 Coursey Blvd. Owner Tanya Kennedy, who sold the Perkins location to Ethan Allen, says Young Fashions will complete its move to Coursey Boulevard by the end of this month. Young Fashions never used more than 30,000 square feet of the 54,000 square feet inside the Perkins Road store, Kennedy says, and will be more comfortable in the 20,000 square feet at its new location. "We really don't need all that space in the back, which is a warehouse," Kennedy says. Kennedy sold the old store location in late August. The new Young Fashions location—across the street from The Chimes East, between Cedarcrest Avenue and South Sherwood Forest Boulevard—was formerly the Rug Gallery and a golf store, Kennedy says. The Ethan Allen furniture store on Florida Boulevard near Cortana Mall will move to Young Fashions' old location by March, she says. An Ethan Allen...
Juban Crossing developer says project is moving
Despite Gov. Bobby Jindal's veto earlier this summer of a bill that would have created a special taxing district to help finance infrastructure improvements at Juban Crossing in Livingston Parish, the mixed-use project is moving forward, says developer Stephen Keller. In a written statement, Keller says more than 300,000 square feet of retail space in the development have "negotiated leases pending final signatures" by national tenants, and notes he is exploring alternative sources of funding for the project, which has an estimated price tag of $350 million when fully built out. "We are analyzing alternative methods of financing being proposed to us and are in the process of selecting the best structure to complete phase one," writes Keller, principal of Creekstone Companies. In June, the Legislature approved a TIF zone for the Juban Crossing Economic Development District, which would have deposited 1% of state sales tax generated within the district back into the district for a...
Perkins Rowe manager heads back to Minnesota
Exactly three years after coming to Baton Rouge to manage Perkins Rowe, Rick Balow of Jones Lang LaSalle is moving back to his native Minnesota to assume a new position with the property management company. JLL was appointed by a federal district judge to take over and manage the mixed-use development in August 2009 after the main lender on the project, KeyBank National Association, initiated foreclosure proceedings against its developer, Tommy Spinosa. As the suit has wended its way through the federal courts in the three years since, Balow has taken a development that was plagued with problems—including liens, lawsuits, unfinished construction projects, high turnover and endless negative publicity—and turned it into one of the most popular and successful retail destinations in the metro area. In a letter to friends and employees, Balow writes: "I'm very proud of all that we accomplished here at Perkins Rowe and am eternally grateful to each of you for the part you...
News Alert: Spinosa files to block foreclosure of Perkins Rowe
Attorneys for developer Tommy Spinosa filed documents late this afternoon to try to block the latest efforts by KeyBank National Associates to foreclose on Perkins Rowe. Late last month, the Ohio-based lender asked the federal district court to let it move forward with the foreclosure, which has been stalled—even though the bank was awarded that legal right nearly a year ago. Spinosa's attorneys had until today to respond to the motion. In their response, they argue that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District lacked the jurisdiction to render a judgment in the case in the first place—an argument they have raised throughout the three-year-old case. Attorneys also argue that several legal issues related to the case must be resolved before a final ruling on the foreclosure can be issued. Attorneys for both sides could not be reached for comment. There is no word on when the court will rule.—Stephanie Riegel
LSU Faculty Club set to rebrand at Union Square
Beginning Thursday, Aug. 16, the LSU Faculty Club restaurant will officially begin its transition to becoming The Club at LSU Union Square, a fine dining destination for both lunch and dinner. Located at the corner of Highland and Raphael Semmes roads, The Club at LSU Union Square will be open for lunch on weekdays from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and for dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. Private dining rooms for up to 45 guests may be reserved during regular club hours. The venue is also available for special events outside of regular business hours. The LSU Union Square will also include a new Barnes & Noble university bookstore; a new Apple Retail Store; a new five-floor, 750-vehicle parking garage; the recently renovated LSU Student Union and Union Theater; and connecting outdoor spaces. The new areas are scheduled to be complete and open by the fall of 2013. On LSU football game days, The Club at LSU Union Square will open from noon to kick-off. Officials foresee...
Massey's to open second B.R. location near LSU
Massey's Outfitters, a New Orleans-based outdoors goods store, will open its second Baton Rouge location at 3340 Highland Road near the North Gates of LSU in early August. The new Massey's location is the company's fifth retail location, joining brick-and-mortar shops in New Orleans, Covington, Metairie and the Baton Rouge location in Towne Center. Massey's Regional Manager Steven Sickinger says the company has been looking to expand in Baton Rouge, and the location's proximity to LSU's campus was an instinctive draw. "We felt that this area of the city is definitely one of the up-and-coming areas," Sickinger says. While the Towne Center location focuses on camping and kayaking, the Highland Road location will feature bicycles and running gear to appeal to students and on-the-go customers who jog around the nearby LSU lakes. "No Massey's location is going to look the same as the others cosmetically," Sickinger says. A full-service bike maintenance shop completed with bike rental...
Retail spending in EBR rises nearly 14% in May
Aided by Bayou Country Superfest and the U.S. Bowling Congress tournament, sales tax collections in the city and parish were collectively up 13.6% in May compared to the same month last year, according to a report from the city-parish finance department. Figures released this morning show the 2% sales tax dedicated to the city-parish general fund totaled $15.1 million in May, an increase of $1.8 million over May 2011. For the first five months of the year, sales tax receipts have totaled $71.5 million, an increase of 9.2% compared to the same period a year ago. In a prepared statement accompanying today's report, Mayor Kip Holden says additional sales tax collections should be spent on public safety while discussions about next year's budget continue. "The economy is still fragile, and good news doesn't mean there will be a spending spree," Holden says. "We will continue to be responsible and frugal, keeping a tight rein on spending, but public safety will always, always see the...
New boutiques, restaurants preparing to join Perkins Rowe mix
While the Perkins Rowe foreclosure lawsuit continues to wend its way through the court system after three years, the legal issues do not appear to be hurting business at the mixed-use development, according to property manager Rick Balow. On the contrary, he says, leasing activity has never been stronger. JuJu's, a new boutique, recently moved into existing retail space, and three more boutiques are "very close to going to lease," Balow says, adding that the tenants will be leasing both new and existing retail space. Two new restaurants are also negotiating deals to move into Perkins Rowe, he says. A new concept Mexican restaurant that is locally owned and will feature live music is planning a move into the space previously occupied by The Grillroom, while a barbecue chain restaurant will take over the space that formerly housed Fish City Grill. While those previous restaurant tenants didn't do well in Perkins Rowe, Balow says the development is an increasingly popular dining venue...
Louisianans might see prices rise due to agreement between retailers, credit card companies
A recent agreement struck between retailers and credit card companies means retailers can begin passing along some extra fees for processing credit card transactions to consumers. And because Louisiana is not among 10 states that have laws barring such kind of surcharges, consumers in Baton Rouge and throughout the state may begin to see the fees appear on their receipts. "What consumers might see is certain businesses, probably the smaller ones, asking them to pay an additional fee when using a credit card, or offering them a discount to pay in cash," says Linda Sherry, spokeswoman for Consumer Action, a national nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. "We think it's pretty ugly for consumers." Some say passing along the charge to consumers is a fair move, as retailers have long built the fees they pay to credit card companies into the average prices of goods—meaning those who traditionally pay in cash are also paying for the choice not to use credit. The agreement reached...
U.S. economy looking weaker on retail sales slump
The outlook for the U.S. economy appeared a little dimmer today after a report was released saying Americans spent less at retail businesses for a third straight month in June. The Commerce Department report led some economists to downgrade their estimates for economic growth in the April-June quarter. Many now think the economy grew even less than in the first quarter of the year, when it expanded at a sluggish 1.9% annual rate. Spending in June fell in nearly every major category—from autos, furniture and appliances to building, garden supplies and department stores. Overall, retail sales slid 0.5% from May to June, the Commerce Department says. Retail sales hadn't fallen for three straight months since the fall of 2008, at the height of the financial crisis. The weak U.S. spending figures were announced on the same day that the International Monetary Fund slightly lowered its outlook for global growth over the next two years. "However hard you look, there's just no good news...
Indie Grocers
Independent grocer Calvin Lindsly darts through the tight, neat aisles of his Bocage Village supermarket, pointing out dozens of specialty goods he's ordered over the years in response to requests from customers.
Smiley Heights planning funds in budget supplement
While recently breaking up and approving items within Mayor Kip Holden's $11.1 million budget supplement, the Metro Council voted to approve $200,000 for the planning of Smiley Heights, marking some of the first dollars appropriated for implementing the FuturEBR master plan for land use and development. For Smiley Heights—a mixed-use development including education, retail, residential and commercial components in the Melrose East community, where Greenwell Springs Road and Ardenwood Drive intersect—$55,000 is allocated for consultant fees for wetland mitigation, and $45,000 is allocated for consultant fees for planning a new charter school and site of Baton Rouge Community College. The remaining $100,000 is allocated for implementing the rest of the Mid City Urban Renewal District, including finalizing district boundaries and securing revenue sources. The city-parish envisions that Smiley Heights—a part of the urban renewal district—will encompass 3,500 new...
Eric Hedrick
Eric Hedrick attended Loyola University for a degree in broadcast journalism. But out of college in 2000, he found himself working in the apparel business. “I was filling a need,” Hedrick says. “There was no one making high-end college apparel, especially men's apparel.”
Tiger Mania stores acquired by LIDS Sports Group
Tiger Mania's three brick-and-mortar stores in Baton Rouge and its e-commerce website at TigerMania.net have been acquired by Indianapolis-based hat and sports merchandise retailer LIDS Sports Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed in a news release about the acquisition, which was also vague about the future of the three Tiger Mania stores. In the release, LIDS Sports Group Executive Vice President of Retail Charlie Brodt says, "With our expertise in sports apparel retailing, as well as a broad assortment of officially licensed LSU merchandise, I truly believe Tiger fans will find a significant value in what LIDS Sports Group can do through the expansion of this brand." However, the release does not indicate whether the stores will be rebranded or whether they will continue to solely carry LSU merchandise. A LIDS company spokesman did not return a request for further comment this morning. The three area Tiger Mania stores are located at 4410 Highland Road, 8976 Interline Ave.,...
EBR retail spending rose 9.3% in April
April sales tax collections in East Baton Rouge Parish show retail spending increased 9.3% on the month compared to April 2011, excluding vehicle sales. Spending was up 9.8% when vehicle sales were factored in. Those figures come from a new report out today from the city-parish Finance Department, which also says year-to-date retail spending is up 8% over 2011, including vehicle sales. Inside the city limits, sales tax collections totaled $7.3 million in April, an increase of 2.6% over the $7.1 million collected in April last year. In the parish, collections totaled $7.1 million in April, an 18.3% jump from the $6 million collected during the month last year. Check out the finance department’s complete April sales tax report here; and read some statements from Mayor Kip Holden on the increases here.
Bass Pro development heats up
The Bass Pro Shops in Denham Springs is becoming what the developer Jacob Fa-Kouri envisioned when he began the project several years ago. Not only is the commercial area anchored by Bass Pro, it now has Sam's Club coming later this month. Joe Moore with Re/Max First continues bringing in deals for the project, with his latest being the sale of a one-acre parcel on Bass Pro Boulevard directly behind Back Yard Burgers. On June 1, Fa-Kouri sold the one-acre site to S.L. Shaw Properties and Mitch Rotolo for a total price of $807,602, or about $18 per square foot. The full story by appraiser Tom Cook, along with the rest of the new Real Estate Weekly e-newsletter, can be read here.
Stable but flat
For the second year in a row, vacancy rates declined in the Capital Region's retail market last year, and for the first time in several years they're comfortably in the single digits.
Property of the Week
This 36,000-square-foot addition to the Acadian-Perkins Plaza at the corner of Acadian Thruway and Perkins Road is scheduled for completion sometime in midsummer. The development will feature 18,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, and the same amount of office space on the second floor. Chris Town is the general contractor. See a rendering of the development here.
Couture collaboration
Legendary designer Trina Turk is teaming up with Banana Republic. Beginning June 7, the designer's prints and luxe touches will be available at the retailer's Capital City locations, which include the Mall of Louisiana and Towne Center. The limited-edition line features printed shorts, bright blouses, breezy dresses and swimwear, to name just a few. Pendant necklaces, floppy hats and several other accessories complete this capsule collection. To get resort-ready on a budget, keep this launch on your shopping radar, as designer collaborations tend to sell out quickly.
Gonzales council to take up 1% sales tax hike for Tanger on Tuesday
The Gonzales City Council on Tuesday is set to take a final vote on a proposed 1% sales tax increase at the Tanger Outlet Center that would be split by the outlet center and the city. Tanger would get 70% of the extra sales tax—which would boost total sales tax charged at outlet stores from 8.5 cents to 9.5 cents—and the city would get 30%, says Clay Stafford, Gonzales city clerk and finance director. Stafford says Tanger wants to use its share of the extra tax to expand the outlet mall by 30,000 square feet, and that the city wants to use its share to improve roadways and interchanges near the popular outlet mall—as well as to create a second entrance to it. "We think it's a win-win because we really need to improve the intersection at the interstate and the one nearby at Robert Wilson Road and (La.) highway 30," Stafford says. "Those have been tough fixes because they're state highways, and we've had trouble getting state funds for roads. But with the 2 cents we...