Lots happening in the world of retail development!
For a while there, it seemed as though exciting new retail concepts were an endangered species. With a limp economy keeping the lid on risk-taking, reinventions of junior-apparel stores seemed about as innovative as the industry could get.
My, how times have changed. The past year has brought a flood of new concepts to the market, enough to keep brokers, tenant reps and owners happily occupied for some time to come.
Sure, some of those concepts are new variations on old themes — like Zara and Mango, which sell women's fashions with a Euro beat, and Design Within Reach, whose home furnishings have a modernist pedigree. But who would have thought we'd see a mall-based chain like Nuvo Laser Skin Care, which serves up dermabrasion and Botox over lunch hour? Or Club Libby Lu, where preteen girls can get a makeover, advice and “cool princess paraphernalia,” all in a members-only setting? Or a chain of bowling alleys at which the chocolate martini is more popular than Budweiser?
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