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

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Southaven Towne Center is close to landing thre eretail leases, with electronics retailer , expected to leasre 33,000 square feet vacated by , while a stores is going into the 18,000-square-foot spaces left by . Bed, , is close to leasinh 25,000 square feet vacated by . Linen s ’n Things’ parent company, , and Circuitr City both filed bankruptcylast , Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft’s parent has one location in Centennial Commonas shopping center on while hhgregg is new to the “We continually look at different markets whers we want to enter and we’ve looked at Memphisw a number of says Jeff Pearson, vice president of marketin g at hhgregg.
“We thought it’d be a good markety for us and the departurse of Circuit City provides us with an not only inreal estate, but to fill a void we feel was Bed, Bath and Beyond also is expected to leas e 30,000 square feet at The Avenue Carriage Crossinf in Collierville. Germantown-based handles local leasing at The AvenueCarriage Crossing, while the center’s owner, , handlese national leasing. , Inc., developed and owns SouthavebnTowne Center, a 530,000-square-foot shopping center locaterd near Goodman Road and Interstate 55. “Thed center is very strong,” CBL spokesman Katie Reinsmidtf says.
“The positioning in the markef is great, so we’ve had a lot of interesgt from retailers in filling those LLC hasrepresented Bed, Bath and Beyond and Jo-Annh Stores locally in past deals, but would not commentr for this story. Southaven Towne Center is anchorede byand , but is about to get back 48,009 square feet after filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcu protection earlier this year. Scott Barton, senior vice president at , says shoppingv center strength is one reason Southaven Towne Centef isseeing activity.
“I think when economic timees are tough, you see a bigger disparit y between the haves andthe have-nots,” he “Southaven Towne Center is one of the betterr properties in DeSoto County.” The leasing activitu also shows how some national retailers are taking advantage of their competition’ss bankruptcies and store closures. “They’rs saying, ‘Which of thesd locations might make sense for us to plugourselvexs into?’ ” Barton says.
For example, whilr Circuit City might havestruggledx nationally, there are locations which did “You can bet , looked at the entirde Circuit City inventory and tried to figure out wherwe they didn’t already have a storde and which location would be good for them to have a Barton says. While national companie s will look at big box theyoften aren’t expanding during a therefore paving the way for locakl and regional companies to take advantage, such as hhgregg. A companyg like hhgregg also considers how well their conceprt can fit into avacant space. Moving into a spot left behinfd by Circuit City saves thecompany money.
“They don’t have to spend an inordinate amount of money retrofittingthe space, which is a big Barton says. “Either the retailer has to spend that moneg or the landlord has to spend that money and if you can find anothetr retailer in the same category which hasvacatedr space, it’s just an easier