Gen Z-focused retail brand Princess Polly is deepening its brick-and-mortar push with a slew of new stores planned in the U.S. and abroad.

Eight new U.S. stores are on the way from the midrange fashion company, according to a March 5 earnings report from parent a.k.a. Brands. Half will open this year, and the remaining four will debut the following year. The new openings will bring the brand’s store count to 21.

This year, Princess Polly will enter Minnesota and Texas. Houston and Frisco will each get a location in the Lone Star State. Edina, Minnesota, and Orlando, Florida, are also up for 2026 openings. 

Locations in Jacksonville and Boca Raton, Florida, are planned in 2027, as are stores in Nashville and Charlotte.

The company said it plans to announce even more U.S. openings throughout the year. 

Princess Polly began as an e-commerce brand in 2010 and first opened stores in its home of Australia. The first U.S. store opened in 2023 at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles. Princess Polly co-CEO Eirin Bryett said in a press release that the U.S. reception to its brick-and-mortar expansion has exceeded expectations. 

In the U.S., fourth-quarter sales grew by 7% year-over-year in 2025, a.k.a. Brands CEO Ciaran Long said during a fourth-quarter and full-year earnings call. 

For the full year, sales increased 4.4% to $600M. 

Princess Polly’s physical presence follows its audience to the shopping mall. Gen Z has been a driving force behind the mall’s resurgence in recent years. Foot traffic is trending positive as indoor mall visits grew 4% in January and 5% in February, according to Placer.ai. 

The brand has ample space to choose from as storefronts are being vacated by brands unable to recover from the pandemic. Saks Fifth Avenue, Forever 21 and Francesca’s have all announced Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a major reduction in their footprints in the past year, mostly in malls.

Last year, Princess Polly entered New York City with an 8K SF SoHo location that spans two floors.

Another high-end retail outlet in Charlotte will carry the Simon brand. 

Simon Property Group has acquired the Phillips Place mall in the SouthPark neighborhood of Charlotte, according to a press release.

Phillips Place is a 134K SF, mixed-use, open-air retail center with more than 25 retail shops and restaurants, a 180-plus-room hotel and a multifamily residential property on the grounds.

Simon, a retail REIT that owns over 90 malls in the United States, paid $144.8M for Phillips Place, Charlotte Business Journal reported.

Phillips Place sits on 15.4 acres and was Charlotte’s first mixed-use development when it opened in 1997, CBJ reported.

Berkeley Capital Advisors listed the shopping plaza this past July, marking it as 95 percent leased and noting that the three most recent leases rented at an average of $100 per SF.

Big retail names at the shopping center include Ralph Lauren, Peter Millar and J. Crew.

With the sale, Simon now has five malls and retail outlets in the Charlotte area, including the nearby SouthPark mall, the city’s largest. This comes as Charlotte is seeing a surge of new retail and restaurant openings across its malls. 

The company’s acquisition of Phillips Place comes at a time when quality malls have been making a comeback in the United States following the retail slowdown at the height of the pandemic. 

Nationally, retail foot traffic recovered to prepandemic levels by Q3 2024 and this year is projected to surpass 2019 volumes, according to CBRE’s 2025 U.S. Retail Market Outlook.

Gwinnett County’s redevelopment agency is slated to buy the shuttered Sears store at Gwinnett Place Mall as it pushes forward on the defunct retail center’s rebirth. 

Gwinnett County is purchasing the former Sears store at Gwinnett Place Mall.

The Urban Redevelopment Agency of Gwinnett County unanimously approved the purchase of the 11.5-acre vacant Sears store and adjacent parking lot for $11.5M during the agency’s special meeting on Tuesday. 

The empty department store is owned by Northwood Ravin, which purchased it in 2018 from Sears for $11M, according to Gwinnett County records.

The acquisition brings the county one step closer to its longtime goal of redeveloping the ailing mall. Later this month, Gwinnett officials plan to issue a request for proposals from developers for their vision on the mall’s rebirth, Nicole Love Hendrickson, who heads the URA and is chairwoman of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, told Bisnow on Wednesday.

Those visions would likely involve developers razing parts of the existing mall, Hendrickson said. The main 562K SF enclosed portion of the mall — which the county purchased from Moonbeam Capital in 2021 for $23M — was used as a set for Netflix’s Stranger Things in 2019.

“It’s likely some parts of it will have to be torn down, but we have to wait for those proposals to come back to see what needs to stay, what needs to go,” she said. 

The Sears deal is expected to close by the end of October, after which point the county will command 87.5 acres of the mall property, including the former Macy’s department store that Gwinnett purchased in 2024 for $16.5M. 

The sale officially ends any ambition Northwood Ravin, which is primarily a multifamily developer, had for the former Sears store. Hendrickson said talks about the county buying its portion of Gwinnett Place Mall had been evolving for some time but became more realistic after Gwinnett bought the Macy’s anchor last year. 

“It signaled to them that it was time to let go of the property,” she said. 

Charlotte-based Northwood Ravin didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The Board of Commissioners approved a plan in 2023 to redevelop the mall with up to 3,800 new housing units set in seven different villages, 55K SF of retail centered around a 4.4-acre central park, 50K SF of office, and a 52K SF international community cultural center and a public parking garage. 

The county is also proposing turning the current ring road around the mall into a 1.25-mile greenway with sidewalks and a cycle track.

The two open mall anchors, Asian department store Mega Mart and beauty supply retailer Beauty Master, own their own spaces. Hendrickson said the county has reached out in the past about acquiring their real estate so Gwinnett can have complete control over the property, but those talks have gone nowhere. 

“I think ultimately having 100% of the property would give us prime opportunity to redevelop it,” she said. “Having the existing anchor tenants there will make it a challenge but won’t make it impossible. We are not pressuring any of the anchor owners to give up their properties.”

The redevelopment will also include a new multimodal hub for rapid bus, microtransit and vehicles, called the Gwinnett Place Transit Center, a project largely funded by the Federal Transit Administration. The transit center, located on a county-owned parcel across from the former Macy’s department store, is expected to finish in 2032.

The actual redevelopment of the mall, though, will likely take much longer. Hendrickson said the eventual developer and its vision for the project will determine the timeline for redevelopment.

“Commercial mall redevelopment typically takes 25 to 30 years,” Hendrickson said. “It’s a legacy project. I probably won’t be in office by the time this is complete. But I can say I had a hand in getting it off the ground.”

AJ Capital Partners and Simon Property Group are joining forces on a massive luxury outlet mall in Nashville.

The project, dubbed Nashville Premium Outlets, includes a 325,000-square-foot mixed-use center with approximately 75 retailers, restaurants and a hotel. The project could include residential space and big-box retailers sometime in the future.

The outlet mall will rise at the intersection of Interstates 65 and 840, and construction is expected to start in 2026.

Retail and dining tenants will be similar to those found in other Simon Property Group outlets. Those existing centers boast brands such as Armani, Balenciaga, Valentino, Fendi — as well as more common brands like Ann Taylor, Old Navy and Gap.

Simon Property Group also owns The Mall at Green Hills and the Opry Mills Mall and operates more than 230 properties worldwide.

Tanger Factory Outlets recently opened a retail outlet in Antioch, one of the area’s fastest-growing suburbs.

Northlake Mall opened in 1971, and like most malls from that era, few are still open at designed. Online shopping and COVID have forced most to reinvent themselves. And few have been hit as hard as Northlake. The Charlotte Business Journal reports the mall is expected to sell for only $39 million; that’s $200 million less than it was purchased for just over 10 years ago. Starwood Capital Group acquired Northlake in 2014 for $248 million. Starwood has been in default since 2017 when it missed the mortgage payoff deadline on its $646.6 million loan. The mall has since gone into receivership.

The mall’s receiver, Spinoso Real Estate Group, recently entered into a purchase and sale agreement for the 1.06 million-square-foot, two-story mall at 6801 Northlake Mall Drive in north Charlotte. Hull Property Group and Racine Mall are the buyers. Hull Property Group’s portfolio includes malls in 16 states.

Hull would own the property itself, structures, improvements, permits, easements, roads, and leases. Anchor tenants include Macy’s, Belk, Dillards and AMC Theatres. As part of the sale, it could keep the Northlake name.

BRP Companies and The Prusik Group have updated their plans for the Mall West End property after it shuts down. With the mall set to officially close at the end of January, the development team has been working with legacy tenants to ensure that the uniqueness of the West End is preserved and upheld throughout the transformation.

During construction, several long-standing mall tenants will be relocated to a temporary on-site space at 850 Oak Street.

Once complete, One West End will feature 125,000 square feet of retail, including a grocery store, fitness center, diverse dining options, and local boutiques. The residential component will feature approximately 900 mixed-income residences, a mix of studio to three-bedroom units, with affordable units available to those earning between 50% and 80% of the area median income (AMI). Additionally, the development includes student housing, a planned 150-key hotel, and 12,000 square feet of medical office space.

Phase One of the redevelopment is expected to be completed in 2028.

The Macy’s Inc. department store at WestShore Plaza in Tampa is closing. The department store said Thursday that it will close 66 stores across the U.S. Seven of those stores, including WestShore Plaza, are in Florida. A time frame for the store closures was not disclosed.

The Tampa Business Journal reports WPG, the mall owner, has been planning for the moment for a few years now and has been exploring redevelopment options. In late 2024, WPG paid $10 million for Macy’s real estate — the last remaining piece of WestShore Plaza that it did not own.

Macy’s (NYSE: M) is the second major retailer to close at WestShore Plaza in less than four months. Dick’s Sporting Goods left the mall to move down the road to International Plaza, where it opened its new concept Dick’s House of Sport in October.

WPG’s redevelopment plans include up to 3.5 million square feet of mixed-use development including entertainment, retail, dining, office, wellness, medical, hotel and residential components.

Branch Properties plans to reimagine Gainesville’s Lakeshore Mall into a walkable, open-air destination. The mixed-use redevelopment will retain key retail tenants while introducing new residential and retail elements. The first step in the extensive, multi-year planning process is filing the Development of Regional Impact (DRI), which supports community input. 

Originally opened in 1970, Lakeshore Mall currently comprises 492,798 square feet of retail space. Dick’s Sporting Goods and Belk will remain active throughout the process, and Dick’s Sporting Goods will be relocated on the property. At full buildout, Branch proposes 305,444 square feet of retail space, 652 units of multifamily residential units and 38,200 square feet of outdoor community greenspace. Lakeshore will also have the capacity for a hotel and townhomes in future development. 

Branch Properties acquired the asset in 2022 and plans to break ground on the redevelopment in late 2026. Franklin Street’s Len Erickson will handle retail leasing in partnership with Branch Properties.

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The old Eastland Mall is now called Eastland Yards, and the developer, Crosland Southeast, has delivered its first project. Evoke Living, a 72-unit, 55-and-up multifamily community, recently opened its doors in East Charlotte.

It has one- and two-bedroom apartments and includes a mix of market rate and affordable units priced for residents who earn between 30% and 80% of the area median income.

Evoke also has 6,000 square feet of tenant amenities across all four floors that include a lounge and coffee bar, fitness center, computer room, screened in patio, multipurpose room and rooftop terrace.

The Charlotte Business Journal reports Truist Financial Corp. contributed $25 million to the project.

The overall Eastland Yards project calls for 470 housing units, including Evoke and a mix of single-family homes, townhomes, and market-rate multifamily, some of which are currently under construction. Also planned are a 5-acre county-owned park, retail and restaurants. 

Retail REIT Macerich has refinanced Queens Center in the borough’s Elmhurst neighborhood at highly favorable terms with a new $525-million loan bearing fixed interest of 5.37% and interest-only payments during the entire term. “5.37% is the lowest rate on a refinance that Macerich has achieved since 2019, and this loan represents Macerich’s largest outstanding loan,” said Jack Hsieh, president and CEO. The property he said, is “consistently one of the best-performing properties in our entire portfolio,”

Hsieh added, “This completed transaction demonstrates confidence from the capital markets in Macerich’s assets and in progress on our Path Forward Plan, launched earlier this year, which is sharply focused on three key areas: simplifying our business, improving operational performance and reducing leverage. Through advantageous refinancings like this, among other strategic initiatives, we are continuing to advance Macerich’s mission to add long-term value for our shareholders, partners and customers.”

For Queens Center, Macerich carried a more conservative refinance assumption in its spring 2024 five-year forecast. “This is a major reason we believe we have room to potentially outperform our five-year refinance plan and to possibly achieve even greater FFO growth,” said Hsieh.