More Kmarts bite the dust

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Kmart will close 64 stores in December, two of which are in Minnesota, West St. Paul and Moorhead.  Back in 2012 they had 1,300 stores, and with this latest round of closures will be down to approximately 800.  More to follow, for sure.

Here’s the entire list of stores:

  • Kmart #3706: Wytheville, VA
  • Kmart #3754: Martinsville, VA
  • Kmart #3044: Lawton, OK
  • Kmart #3180: Merrillville, IN
  • Kmart #3241: Springfield, IL
  • Kmart #3320: Houma, LA
  • Kmart #3328: New Lenox, IL
  • Kmart #3355: Panama City, FL
  • Kmart #3359: Gardendale, AL
  • Kmart #3521: Binghamton, NY
  • Kmart #3556: Elkhart, IN
  • Kmart #3594: Chicago, IL
  • Kmart #3644: Nashville, TN
  • Kmart #3695: Sierra Vista, AZ
  • Kmart #3814: Kearney, NE
  • Kmart #4066: Jackson, MI
  • Kmart #4095: Joliet, IL
  • Kmart #4135: Augusta, GA
  • Kmart #4162: Salt Lake City, UT
  • Kmart #4175: Canton, OH
  • Kmart #4176: Cheektowaga, NY
  • Kmart #4439: Yakima, WA
  • Kmart #4700: Fenton, MI
  • Kmart #4717: Oak Ridge, TN
  • Kmart #4739: Clarksville, TN
  • Kmart #4772: Burnham, PA
  • Kmart #4781: Macomb, IL
  • Kmart #4837: Riverton, WY
  • Kmart #4845: Manistee, MI
  • Kmart #4851: Byron Center, MI
  • Kmart #4910: Mentor, OH
  • Kmart #4917: Thornton, CO
  • Kmart #4961: Burlington, NC
  • Kmart #4970: Memphis, TN
  • Kmart #4972: Lubbock, TX
  • Kmart #4984: Tinley Park, IL
  • Kmart #7024: Scottsbluff, NE
  • Kmart #7061: New Iberia, LA
  • Kmart #7077: Harlingen, TX
  • Kmart #7174: Pikeville, KY
  • Kmart #7205: Grand Rapids, MI
  • Kmart #7216: Moorhead, MN
  • Kmart #7306: Sioux Falls, SD
  • Kmart #7356: Jonesboro, AR
  • Kmart #7412: West Valley City, UT
  • Kmart #7478: Waipahu, HI
  • Kmart #7551: Indio, CA
  • Kmart #7560: Craig, CO
  • Kmart #7587: Fontana, CA
  • Kmart #7625: Los Angeles, CA
  • Kmart #7642: Natchez, MS
  • Kmart #7718: Hixson, TN
  • Kmart #7733: Alpena, MI
  • Kmart #7755: Deming, NM
  • Kmart #7775: Lafayette, IN
  • Kmart #7795: Abilene, TX
  • Kmart #9129: Mount Airy, NC
  • Kmart #9146: Great Barrington, MA
  • Kmart #9397: West Saint Paul, MN
  • Kmart #9571: Cullman, AL
  • Kmart #9586: Sault Saint Marie, MI
  • Kmart #9623: Springdale, AR
  • Kmart #9728: Smyrna, TN
  • Kmart #9751: Cody, WY

Fresh Thyme doubles number of stores in Minnesota

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With the opening last week of two more stores, Fresh Thyme has four locations and more coming.  The Savage store opened in 30,000 sf of the former Rainbow store, with the Vadnais Heights store of the same size going into the former Festival Foods store.  By all accounts, they opened with lots of buzz and great sales.  Their Bloomington store opened last year, and was the only site until Apple Valley opened this spring.   The next location to open is Plymouth at Highway 55 and Vicksburg in mid-September, along with St. Louis Park, Prospect Park, Waite Park and West St. Paul in the works.

They also added liquor to their offerings, with the Vadnais Heights stores having a liquor store.  Plymouth will also offer liquor, and more will be added to future locations if feasible.

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Eat Mor Chikin

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Chick-fil-A introduced this ad campaign in chick-fil-a1995 featuring a herd of “renegade self-serving cows” promoting the idea we should be eating more chicken and less beef.

Chick-fil-A began its expansion into the Twin Cities market in 2013 with restaurants opening in Maple Grove, Coon Rapids, Bloomington, Apple Valley, and three outlet locations (Minneapolis St. Paul Airport, University of Minnesota, and Minnesota State University, Mankato). Additional restaurants were recently opened in Burnsville and Blaine. Chick-fil-A is in the planning stages for restaurants in Maplewood, West St. Paul, Eagan, Chanhassen, and Eden Prairie.

Chick-fil-A, Inc. is a family owned and privately held Restaurant Company founded in 1946 by S. Truett Cathy. Dedicated in serving the local communities in which its franchised restaurants operate, and known for its original chicken sandwich, Chick-fil-A serves freshly prepared food in more than 2,000 restaurants in 42 states and Washington, D.C.

Chick-fil-A opened its first restaurant in Greenbriar Mall in 1967 and continued expansion with stand-alone, mall and licensed locations throughout the country. The majority of the chain’s 2,000 restaurants are locally owned and operated by independent franchisees, ensuring oversight of day-to-day activities at the restaurant and employment and community involvement decisions.

Known for its freshly prepared food and award-winning customer service, Chick-fil-A’s menu options include its signature hand-breaded, boneless breast-of-chicken sandwich along with hand-chopped salads, fresh-squeezed lemonade and hand-spun milkshakes. Chick-fil-A Founder S. Truett Cathy first served his boneless breast-of-chicken sandwich, pressured cooked and served on a buttered bun with two crucial pickles, at his Dwarf Grill restaurant that opened in 1946 in Hapeville, Ga. The sandwich was the signature menu item when the first Chick-fil-A restaurant opened in 1967 and continues to be the most popular menu item today.

With a long-standing tradition in the restaurant industry for setting the highest standards in customer service, Chick-fil-A ranked first for customer satisfaction in the Limited Service Restaurants Industry by the American Customer Satisfaction Index for 2015. The company has also earned recognition as one of America’s “Most Inspiring Companies” by Forbes Magazine, one of America’s “Top 20 Most Admired Brands” by The Harris Poll and “Top Fast Food Chicken Chain” – for best chicken sandwich, customer service and cleanliness – by Consumer Reports, among other honors.

Aurora Center Wins MNCAR Deal of the Year Award

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The Aurora Center in West St. Paul recently won the Deal of the Year award, presented by the MNCAR Awards Program.

The Tenant brokers were Tom Martin of Cushman & Wakefield | NorthMarq and John Kalamaras of Realsource Partners. The brokers representing the landlord were Brad Kaplan and Kim Meyer of Cushman & Wakefield | NorthMarq.

Transaction details:

  • The 4.2 acre assemblage included a former Bowling alley parcel, a former strip center parcel owned by Aurora Investments, and parking rights on a former equipment rental parcel. The City of West St. Paul acquired the Bowling Alley parcel through condemnation and transferred title to Aurora. The City also acquired the equipment rental parcel, retaining ownership but granting necessary unilateral parking rights for the project.
  • Three existing leases encumbered the strip center site: FedEx, Darque Tan and Payless were all relocated to a new 11,700sf strip center on site before demolition and site work could commence for the 35,000sf anchor, LA Fitness. All three tenants had to renew or blend/extend at the new building, and would only do so without a disruption in business. Aurora had no relocation rights as a part of the existing leases. This three-party relocation was accomplished successfully, as all three tenants opened in their new space in November, 2014.
  • Arriving at a mutually agreeable site plan was contentious – The City, Aurora, LA Fitness and the small shop tenants all had their desires. The Zoning Code mandated that the new buildings border the major road (Robert St.) while the tenants all desired a plan that allowed the customer to easily understand and visualize the new storefronts and parking layout. As it became evident the City was not going to be flexible, the tenants acquiesced, but not without additional RE committee review.
  • The timing of the project involved:
    • Site Acquisition (condemnation of Bowling Alley, separate purchase by City of parking parcel)
    • Plan Approval by all parties
    • 4 new/amended leases with new economics
    • Demolition of bowling alley and remediation
    • Construction of new strip building and relocation of 3 existing tenants
    • Demolition and site work for anchor pad without business interruption of operating tenants
    • Construction of Anchor building to commence in March of 2015 for a Fall ’15 opening
    • Project start to finish – 34 months

When asked what lesson they could pass along to other real estate professionals, the brokers stated that lengthy, complicated deals are the new norm!

This post was written by Sara Meddock, with information from Tom Martin. Tom Martin is a senior director with Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq. Tom focuses on tenant representation services to retail clients.