Craig Realty Group heads to Hawaii
Craig Realty Group has joined MK Kapolei, owned by two Hawaiian developers -- the MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group -- to develop a 260,000-sf outlet/entertainment component at Kapolei Commons Shopping Center.
Kapolei Commons, which opened in 2009, is about 25 minutes west of Honolulu. Existing tenants in the 300,000-sf center include Target, Sports Authority, Petco, OfficeMax, Ross Dress for Less and Price Busters.
Construction of the outlet expansion is expected to begin in early 2011 with stores opening in late 2011 and early 2012.
Craig Realty Group is the developer of 11 outlet centers totaling 4.3 million sf in six states, plus five other planned outlet centers in four states.
See more details in the August 2010 VRN

Horizon starts Oklahoma site work
Muskegon, Mich.-based Horizon Group Properties has begun site work on the 320,000-sf Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City. Dirt work on the $50 million project began in June, with the opening set for mid-2011. Horizon has until Aug. 31 to purchase the site on Interstate 40 and Council Road and show proof of financing to the Oklahoma City Council.
The Oklahoma center was one of a slew of outlet projects put on hold by the stumbling economy and is one of the first to get back on track. According to Horizon, Atlanta-based Cousins Properties is still an equity partner.
"We’re still working with them (Cousins) as well as with a couple of other equity providers," Horizon senior VP Tom Rumptz told the Oklahoman newspaper on June 19. "Right now we’re just finalizing that as we start the project."
A report delivered to the Economic Development Trust indicates the center is 80-percent leased, with tenants including Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, Carter’s, Coach, Gap, Jones New York, Nike, Nine West, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th and Tommy Hilfiger.
See more details in the August 2010 VRN

Italian group to open outlet centers in China
RDM Asia, the real estate arm of the Italian Fingen Group in Asia, is planning to open a portfolio of designer outlet centers in China under the Florentia Village banner.
The first center, Jingjin Designer Outlets, will be a 42,000-sq m project set to open between Beijing and Tianjin in spring 2011.
The market has more than 25 million residents within a 90-minute drive; 15 million within a 60-minute drive and 10 million within a 30-minute drive.
The site of the €70 million project, well-connected to many train lines, is adjacent to the high-speed Beijing-Tianjin railway station and is accessible from three regional highways and several national roads.
Each of the outlet developments, to be constructed over the next five years, will start 12 to 18 months after the previous one. The development of each outlet center will comprise two to three separate phases.
Fingen, which has offices in Florence, Rome, London and Hong Kong, has been a manufacturer/distributor licensee of Calvin Klein, Guess, Jean Paul Gautier and other top luxury designers since the 1960s.
Fingen has also partnered with McArthurGlen on the outlet developer’s well-known projects in Italy.
See the Fall 2010 IOJ for more details

By the Numbers
Teen girls on average send and receive 80 text messages every day, while boys send/receive 30, according to Pew Research, which says texting now outpaces cell calling as teens’ preferred communications channel. E-mail is close to non-existent as a communications channel for teens.
Pew reports that one in three teens sends more than 100 text messages every day, or 3,000 texts a month. And one in three texting teens ages 16-17 say they have texted while driving, and 48 percent of teens 12-17 reported being in a car while the driver was texting.
See the full story in the August 2010 VRN

Top Quote
"There’s something that I call ‘retail time.’ It’s the attitude that you have to move quickly into the online space, but…there’s some real pain involved in plunging into online without thinking these things through."
-- Jason Meugniot, CEO of retail web design firm Guidance

Outlet Agenda
Paco Underhill, Marie Driscoll to speak
at Outlet Leasing/Marketing Convention
In September, the VRN Fall Outlet Leasing and Marketing Convention moves back to Secaucus, N.J., for an enhanced program that will include keynote speakers Paco Underhill (retail strategy guru) and Marie Driscoll (Standard & Poors’ retail analyst), plus marketing and merchandising workshops and roundtables, one-and-a-half days of deal making, and the presentation of the ORCA and Hall of Fame awards.
Qualified retailers get in free, and this meeting is now a continuing education credit for ICSC certifications.
The 2010 fall event will be Monday, Sept. 27 and Tuesday, Sept. 28 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Secaucus-Meadowlands. Full details and registration information, including the special form for retailers who want to attend for free, are available on VRN’s website at www.valueretailnews.com.

European Outlet Conference
The fifth annual European Outlet Conference is gathering steam. The two-day event will be held in Milan on Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 13-14 at the Melia Milan Hotel. More program details will be coming soon on that event, which has grown every year as Europe booms with outlet centers.