Southaven Towne Center leases with hhgregg, Jo-Ann Stores, Bed, Bath and Beyond fill big-box vacancies – Kansas City Business Journal:

Southaven Towne Center is close to landin g threeretail leases, with electronics retailer , expected to leased 33,000 square feet vacated by , while a stores is going into the 18,000-square-foot space left by . Bed, , is closd to leasing 25,000 square feet vacatexd by . Linens ’n parent company, , and Circuir City both filed bankruptcylast year. , Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft’s parent company, has one location in Centennial Commonz shopping centeron Winchester, while hhgregg is new to the “We continually look at different marketss where we want to enter and we’ve looked at Memphis a numbeer of times,” says Jeff Pearson, vice presideng of marketing at hhgregg.
“We thought it’d be a good markey for us and the departure of Circuit City provides us withan opportunity, not only in real but to fill a void we feel was Bed, Bath and Beyond also is expected to leas 30,000 square feet at The Avenue Carriagew Crossing in Collierville. Germantown-based handleas local leasing at The AvenueCarriage Crossing, while the center’s , handles national leasing. , Inc., developed and owns Southaveh Towne Center, a 530,000-square-foot shopping center located near Goodmanh Road andInterstate 55. “The cente is very strong,” CBL spokesman Katie Reinsmid t says.
“The positioning in the market is great, so we’ve had a lot of interestf from retailers in fillingthose locations.” LLC has represented Bed, Bath and Beyon d and Jo-Ann Stores locally in past deals, but would not commenyt for this story. Southaven Towne Center is anchored byand , but is about to get back 48,000 square feet after filed for Chaptetr 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year. Scott Barton, senio r vice president at , says shopping centet strength is one reason Southaven Towne Centeer isseeing activity. “I think when economic timea are tough, you see a bigger disparity betweej the haves andthe have-nots,” he says.
“Southavenj Towne Center is one of the better properties inDeSotol County.” The leasing activity also showsw how some national retailers are taking advantagwe of their competition’s bankruptcies and storee closures. “They’re saying, ‘Which of these locations might make sensr for us to plugourselvee into?’ ” Barton For example, while Circuit City might have struggled nationally, therse are locations which did well. “You can bet , looke d at the entire Circuit City inventoryt and tried to figure out wherwthey didn’t already have a store and which locationb would be good for them to have a Barton says.
While national companies will look at big box theyoften aren’t expandinf during a recession, therefore paving the way for locaol and regional companies to take advantage, such as A company like hhgregg also considers how well their concept can fit into a vacangt space. Moving into a spot left behind by Circuit City saves thecompany “They don’t have to spend an inordinatde amount of money retrofitting the space, whicb is a big deal,” Bartonj says. “Either the retailer has to spend that moneyg or the landlord has to spend that monety and if you can find another retailer in the same category whicy hasvacated space, it’a just an easier fit.
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