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Miami Herald
09-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Store Closures On Track to Far Exceed 2024 Levels
Store closures across the U.S. continue to rise, and remain on track to far significantly surpass both new openings and the figures seen in 2024. According to a new report from research and advisory firm Coresight Research, cited by CoStar News, 5,822 store closures were recorded as of June 27, compared to 3,496 closures announced during the same period of 2024. The 2025 closures have also far outstripped the 3,960 announced openings this year. The stark increase in closures reflects long-term challenges to the retail sector, which has for years battled declining foot traffic and the rise of e-commerce - particularly since the COVID Pandemic - Coresight reported. Persistent inflation and tariff hikes on goods from other countries - heralded by the Trump administration as a measure to boost American manufacturing and protect jobs - have also taken tolls on consumer confidence and spending, analysis from US banking giant JP Morgan suggests. Early in the year, Coresight Research predicted that around 15,000 stores would close in 2025, more than double the 7,325 that shuttered last year. Those were the highest number of annual closures since 2020, when there were 9,698. Store openings, meanwhile, were predicted to fall to 5,800 from 5,970 in 2025. Since it made the prediction in late January, several major brands have announced or embarked upon reductions in their nationwide footprints. Macy's and Kohl's are among the household names to announce widespread closures, fueled in part by declining sales and a desire to optimize operations to accommodate shifting consumer behaviors. Pharmacies have also seen mass closures. Chains such as CVS and Walgreens have already announced plans to permanently shutter hundreds of locations across the country. Rite Aid, which filed for bankruptcy in early May, recently saw the number of locations marked for closure surpass 1,000, though many of these have been sold off to competitors as it attempts to exit the Chapter 11 process. The widespread shuttering of pharmacies has exacerbated fears over Americans' access to essential medications, as many face the prospect of living in what have been referred to as "pharmacy deserts." John Mercer, Coresight's head of global research, told CoStar News: "U.S. retail is in a period of unusually high real-estate churn as cyclical impacts confront structural shifts." "U.S. store closures are up by two-thirds compared to one year earlier, while openings are flat," he added. "That closures total is compounding closure numbers that were already up, year over year, in week 27 of 2024." Miranda Rochol, Senior Vice President of Provider Solutions at healthcare technology firm Prescryptive Health, told Newsweek that the reasons for mass pharmacy closures "are complex, but it's not an overstatement to say pharmacies are facing unprecedented economic strain, with shrinking margins and reimbursement rates." "Many small pharmacies now operate at a loss on common prescriptions, and large chains are restructuring in response to reduced revenues, declining foot traffic, and other outdated models that no longer align with the needs of modern consumers," she added. It remains to be seen whether the number of closures will ultimately match the 15,000 originally forecast by Coresight back in January. Last week, Coresight estimated that the level of store closures could result in over 120 million square feet of closed retail space in 2025. Related Articles Rite Aid Closures Reach 1,000 as America Faces 'Pharmacy Deserts'Map Shows Cities Where Malls are Dying Off FastestAre Banks Open on Juneteenth 2025? List of Holiday ClosuresTD Bank to Close 38 Locations by June 5: See the Full List 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Amazon Signs 141,000 Square Foot We Work Lease In Silicon Valley Amid Relentless Expansion And Back To Work Mandate
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) office expansion knows no bounds. Fresh from expanding its presence in New York, the tech giant announced it is growing its presence in Silicon Valley by teaming up with WeWork (NYSE:WE) to add 141,000 square feet of office space to accommodate its return-to-office mandate, CoStar News reports. The new offices are located at 4980 Great America Parkway in Santa Clara, California, in a building that Amazon will occupy in its entirety as part of its effort to have its workforce return to a five-day-per-week in-office work schedule. 'We're constantly evaluating our office footprint based on the needs of Amazon's businesses,' an Amazon spokesperson told CoStar News. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Peter Thiel turned $1,700 into $5 billion—now accredited investors are eyeing this software company with similar breakout potential. Learn how you can WeWork has been a constant collaborator with Amazon, and the most recent deal follows similar arrangements the two companies have made recently, CosStar reports. At 330 W. 34th St. in New York and at 401 San Antonio Road in Mountain View, California, WeWork signed an office lease before Amazon moved in. 'So if we look at it and just take today's environment with all the uncertainty around tariffs and what's happening, who's prepared to commit to a 10- or a 15-year lease with $50 or $100 million spend?' WeWork CEO, John Santora, said of the arrangement with Amazon and other companies at a recent summit. 'You have to think about it. You have to think whether or not to invest that major capital in a market, at least through this short term. You have to step back,' he told Bloomberg. Trending: Invest Where It Hurts — And Help Millions Heal: While back-to-work mandates have been popular amongst many major corporations this year, Amazon has struggled to implement their's due to a lack of office space. Workers in Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta and New York had their deadlines to return to the office pushed back four months while Amazon acquired more space. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees in September that returning to an in-office work regimen was vital because 'collaborating, brainstorming and inventing are simpler and more effective.' 'If it's not for you, then that's OK. You can go and find another company if you want to. But for us, that's what we've decided is the best way to operate our company,' Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman said at a Wall Street Journal event in return-to-office push has not been without its complications, with parking space and commuting being among the complaints from former remote workers, the Journal reported. 'While we've heard ideas for improvement from a relatively small number of employees and are working to address those, these anecdotes don't reflect the sentiment we're hearing from most of our teammates,' a company spokeswoman told the Journal in February. 'What we're seeing is great energy across our offices.' On June 9 Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that Amazon planned to invest 'at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.' The push would create 'at least 1,250 high-paying, high-tech jobs. Salem Township and Falls Township are the first communities identified as sites for these future campuses,' he said in a statement. It marks the largest capital investment in the commonwealth's history. Read Next: With Point, you can Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – Image: Shutterstock This article Amazon Signs 141,000 Square Foot We Work Lease In Silicon Valley Amid Relentless Expansion And Back To Work Mandate originally appeared on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Independent
05-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Your local Walmart is in line for a $1million facelift - here is what is changing
Walmart stores are getting a massive facelift - and yours could be first on the list for a remodel. The mega-retailer unveiled its plans this week, noting that remodels will occur at 650 stores in 47 states in 2025. It is part of its 'Stores of the Future' project, aimed at bringing modern displays to its locations, expanding its online pickup and delivery services and offering more products. A spokesperson for Walmart told CoStar News that each of the remodels will cost more than $1 million. The remodels reportedly represent Walmart's efforts to hold onto higher-income shoppers who started visiting the stores more frequently during the pandemic to pick up more affordable groceries. Those shoppers could continue to buy at Walmart as concerns about the country's economic future has more families watching their spending. Noting the change, Walmart started to remodel its stores more than two years ago, and in doing so began spotlighting non-grocery merchandise such as clothing and home goods - just as competitor Target does. Walmart has also been making changes to its online shopping experience to try to compete with the nation's other mega-retailer, Amazon. According to Walmart, the remodels will include "big, bold signage" to better showcase its merchandise, new items and expanded departments, an expanded online pickup and delivery system to accommodate the rise in online shoppers, and changing its pharmacies to include wider aisles, private screening rooms and privacy checkout areas. "The work we're doing to expand our assortment is another reason for our growth, as more customers are finding what they're looking for," Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said during a Friday earnings call. Texas will see the largest number of stores receiving renovations, with 67 stores getting a makeover. California will get 56 remodels. Though a full list of Walmart stores receiving remodels is not available at this time, a partial list of the upcoming renovations has been reported by USA Today.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Editorial: Does assessor Fritz Kaegi appreciate the true horrors of downtown Chicago's commercial real estate market?
Chicago is known globally for its striking skyline. But now many of the impressive towers that make up that awe-inspiring cityscape are going for a song. Is the property-value carnage happening regularly downtown registering appropriately with Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi? Case in point: The 57-story tower at 70 W. Madison St. sold earlier this month for $85 million, CoStar News reported. That sounds like a lot, but in 2014 the sellers paid $375 million — more than four times what they just got. Kaegi's office late last year reassessed 70 W. Madison for property-tax purposes. The office came up with a value of $317 million, a 27% increase from the $250 million valuation determined in 2023 by the Cook County Board of Review, which hears property owners' appeals of the assessor's work. What did the market just say the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed tower was worth? $85 million. The Board of Review presumably will take that sale into account when it considers the likely appeal later this year. Granted, this is just one building where the assessment and a fast, subsequent sale are at such sharp odds. But the shocking bath the owners of 70 W. Madison took is hardly an anomaly. The former Groupon headquarters at 600 W. Chicago Ave., a 1.6 million-square-foot structure running along the North Branch of the Chicago River, sold in recent days for $89 million. Just eight years ago, Chicago development firm Sterling Bay paid $510 million for the hulking structure. The primary reason for the lost value? Financially ailing Groupon, which had occupied 300,000 square feet there, decamped about a year ago for a 25,000-square-foot space in the Loop. And a deal is close to sell 311 S. Wacker Drive, a high-end office building adjacent to the Willis Tower that many recognize by its illuminated crown at the top, for around $70 million, according to Crain's Chicago Business. The owners paid $302 million in 2014, and the potential buyers even have discussed razing the tower and building something new in its place. All of the above is context for the news that Kaegi's office has completed its triennial reassessment of Chicago properties and found that, despite robustly higher values for homes in the city over the past three years, values for commercial properties as a group have risen even more. After Kaegi's reassessment, commercial properties would account for 51% of the city's tax base and residential for 49%, the Tribune reported. Currently, Chicago homeowners collectively shoulder 51% of property taxes and commercial 49%. The percentages matter a lot. Even if government property tax levies stay level (which they haven't; take a look at ever-rising levies from Chicago Public Schools, which make up well over a half of Chicago property tax bills), a change in how they're apportioned means significantly higher tax bills for homeowners or commercial property owners. As of now, businesses are set to pay more because governments are due the taxes they demand regardless of who pays what, and businesses' share of the burden will increase by the assessor's accounting. But the assessor's work is far from the last word on the matter. The three-member Board of Review, which will consider what we're sure will be a pile of appeals, has seen fit to dramatically reduce the assessor's commercial property assessments in other parts of Cook County, resulting in shockingly higher property tax bills for many suburban homeowners. Kaegi has harshly criticized the board for the financial pain those homeowners are suffering, in particular singling out for his ire Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr., who represents the South and West sides and the south suburbs. Rogers has responded in kind and told us last year he may run against Kaegi for assessor in 2026. We've spoken positively in the past about Kaegi's efforts to modernize his office after the disastrous tenure of Joe Berrios. And we appreciate that the nepotism and other questionable practices associated with the Berrios years aren't an issue now. But large portions of the business community are irate at what they perceive as Kaegi's exorbitant valuations of their property, which in their view he's doing in order to lighten the load on residents. After all, businesses don't vote; people do. At least on the face of it, there's reason to wonder at the conclusions Kaegi's office has drawn in the wake of what all agree has been a painful post-pandemic hit to commercial values, particularly office. Downtown office buildings make up 20% of Chicago's tax base. The assessor found that the value of Chicago's commercial subcategory comprising office, retail and hotels rose 22% since the last assessment. In the three townships making up the Loop, the increase totaled 21%, according to Crain's. That's head-scratching in light of the parade of historically massive losses downtown office building owners have absorbed in recent transactions. Kaegi's office is categorizing some of the worst blows taken by Chicago office building owners as 'distressed' sales that don't always reflect what the assessor views as true value. Many landlords, we're confident, aren't buying that reasoning. We won't be surprised if Kaegi's numbers change radically after the Board of Review is finished. First-installment property tax bills due this coming spring just were mailed out, but they don't reflect the latest reassessments. The second-installment bills, due in the fall, will account for the changes in Chicago. For homeowners, the results could well be ugly, as we've said before. The bottom line is that this war between the assessor and the Board of Review is serving no one's interests. At the end of the day, the job of those who assess property for tax purposes is to get the calculations as correct as possible in light of what's actually happening in the market. It's not to try to redress the inequities of a municipal tax system that relies far too heavily on landowners. Those fights are for the likes of Mayor Brandon Johnson, Gov. JB Pritzker and an independent Chicago School Board that will take full control of Chicago Public Schools in 2027. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@
Chicago Tribune
31-01-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: Does assessor Fritz Kaegi appreciate the true horrors of downtown Chicago's commercial real estate market?
Chicago is known globally for its striking skyline. But now many of the impressive towers that make up that awe-inspiring cityscape are going for a song. Is the property-value carnage happening regularly downtown registering appropriately with Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi? Case in point: The 57-story tower at 70 W. Madison St. sold earlier this month for $85 million, CoStar News reported. That sounds like a lot, but in 2014 the sellers paid $375 million — more than four times what they just got. Kaegi's office late last year reassessed 70 W. Madison for property-tax purposes. The office came up with a value of $317 million, a 27% increase from the $250 million valuation determined in 2023 by the Cook County Board of Review, which hears property owners' appeals of the assessor's work. What did the market just say the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed tower was worth? $85 million. The Board of Review presumably will take that sale into account when it considers the likely appeal later this year. Granted, this is just one building where the assessment and a fast, subsequent sale are at such sharp odds. But the shocking bath the owners of 70 W. Madison took is hardly an anomaly. The former Groupon headquarters at 600 W. Chicago Ave., a 1.6 million-square-foot structure running along the North Branch of the Chicago River, sold in recent days for $89 million. Just eight years ago, Chicago development firm Sterling Bay paid $510 million for the hulking structure. The primary reason for the lost value? Financially ailing Groupon, which had occupied 300,000 square feet there, decamped about a year ago for a 25,000-square-foot space in the Loop. And a deal is close to sell 311 S. Wacker Drive, a high-end office building adjacent to the Willis Tower that many recognize by its illuminated crown at the top, for around $70 million, according to Crain's Chicago Business. The owners paid $302 million in 2014, and the potential buyers even have discussed razing the tower and building something new in its place. All of the above is context for the news that Kaegi's office has completed its triennial reassessment of Chicago properties and found that, despite robustly higher values for homes in the city over the past three years, values for commercial properties as a group have risen even more. After Kaegi's reassessment, commercial properties would account for 51% of the city's tax base and residential for 49%, the Tribune reported. Currently, Chicago homeowners collectively shoulder 51% of property taxes and commercial 49%. The percentages matter a lot. Even if government property tax levies stay level (which they haven't; take a look at ever-rising levies from Chicago Public Schools, which make up well over a half of Chicago property tax bills), a change in how they're apportioned means significantly higher tax bills for homeowners or commercial property owners. As of now, businesses are set to pay more because governments are due the taxes they demand regardless of who pays what, and businesses' share of the burden will increase by the assessor's accounting. But the assessor's work is far from the last word on the matter. The three-member Board of Review, which will consider what we're sure will be a pile of appeals, has seen fit to dramatically reduce the assessor's commercial property assessments in other parts of Cook County, resulting in shockingly higher property tax bills for many suburban homeowners. Kaegi has harshly criticized the board for the financial pain those homeowners are suffering, in particular singling out for his ire Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr., who represents the South and West sides and the south suburbs. Rogers has responded in kind and told us last year he may run against Kaegi for assessor in 2026. We've spoken positively in the past about Kaegi's efforts to modernize his office after the disastrous tenure of Joe Berrios. And we appreciate that the nepotism and other questionable practices associated with the Berrios years aren't an issue now. But large portions of the business community are irate at what they perceive as Kaegi's exorbitant valuations of their property, which in their view he's doing in order to lighten the load on residents. After all, businesses don't vote; people do. At least on the face of it, there's reason to wonder at the conclusions Kaegi's office has drawn in the wake of what all agree has been a painful post-pandemic hit to commercial values, particularly office. Downtown office buildings make up 20% of Chicago's tax base. The assessor found that the value of Chicago's commercial subcategory comprising office, retail and hotels rose 22% since the last assessment. In the three townships making up the Loop, the increase totaled 21%, according to Crain's. That's head-scratching in light of the parade of historically massive losses downtown office building owners have absorbed in recent transactions. Kaegi's office is categorizing some of the worst blows taken by Chicago office building owners as 'distressed' sales that don't always reflect what the assessor views as true value. Many landlords, we're confident, aren't buying that reasoning. We won't be surprised if Kaegi's numbers change radically after the Board of Review is finished. First-installment property tax bills due this coming spring just were mailed out, but they don't reflect the latest reassessments. The second-installment bills, due in the fall, will account for the changes in Chicago. For homeowners, the results could well be ugly, as we've said before. The bottom line is that this war between the assessor and the Board of Review is serving no one's interests. At the end of the day, the job of those who assess property for tax purposes is to get the calculations as correct as possible in light of what's actually happening in the market. It's not to try to redress the inequities of a municipal tax system that relies far too heavily on landowners. Those fights are for the likes of Mayor Brandon Johnson, Gov. JB Pritzker and an independent Chicago School Board that will take full control of Chicago Public Schools in 2027.
