Fewer new retail stores this year
Retailers are cutting back on newer projects and are researching prospects much more carefully now due to the slowdown of the economy. Major retailers such as Home Depot, Michaels, Toys R Us and J C Penney will still be expanding but will be paying closer attention to all the details. According to Hunter Stansbury, a senior real estate manager at Home Depot, the company needs a “cooling-down period”. Rising construction costs are a major factor in this issue. Texas is getting more store openings than other states, as it is perceived as a growth state for several of the large chain stores, including Home Depot.
“Texas is our growth state,” said Home Depot’s Mr. Stansbury. Its Texas stores are performing better than the chain as a whole, with comparable store sales increases or slight declines.
“I’m in Texas every month,” said Toys R Us real estate director Bill Oughton. The chain has no plans to retrench.This year, the New Jersey-based chain is building 20 combination Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores under the same roof and plans to put Babies R Us stores inside 25 existing Toys R Us stores.
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