Shopping Centers

Heavy rain in the West on Saturday wasn't enough to dampen holiday shopping, with U.S. retail sales surging 15.1% to $7.58 billion over the same day last year, according to estimates by research firm ShopperTrak RCT Corp. Foot traffic on so-called Super Saturday, the last Saturday before Christmas, rose 10.1%. But ShopperTrak noted that the sales figures appeared particularly robust because they were being compared with last year, when blizzard-like conditions resulted in weak sales in the Northeast and parts of the South.

Union Station in Los Angeles is being sold to a Texas investment firm as part of a $505-million agreement announced Tuesday to purchase real estate assets from ProLogis, the world's largest warehouse company. The properties are being sold to TPG Capital, formerly known as Texas Pacific Group, a global private investment firm headquartered in Fort Worth, with more than $47 billion in assets under management. As part of the deal, TPG said it was acquiring four shopping centers, two office buildings, 11 mixed-use projects and two residential development joint ventures.

For the better part of a decade, the buzz in retailing has been focused on online sellers, free-standing stores and street-level boutiques. But there's still nothing like the mall. As retailers look forward to what is shaping up to be their best holiday season since before the recession, the power of the shopping center is evident in the jammed parking lots, crowds of jostling shoppers and a sea of shopping bags. "A few years ago, I looked at malls as a deteriorating retail concept because consumers were shopping them less and less," said Britt Beemer, chairman of consumer behavior firm America's Research Group.

It's name is No Fear, but it's getting another reputation in local malls: No Rent. The casual clothing company from Carlsbad has been sued by several Southern California shopping malls for falling months ? and tens of thousands of dollars ? behind in rent for its retail outlets. An attorney for No Fear Retail Stores Inc. blamed the late payments on the sour economy and said the company was working with shopping centers to renegotiate leases that were signed when the future looked brighter.

Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso wants to expand his Americana at Brand shopping center in Glendale by taking over two adjacent properties, including a hotel. In a letter to the city's redevelopment agency released Monday, Caruso declared his interest in taking over the Golden Key Hotel and a vacant retail building at the southern edge of the Americana. He hopes to buy the properties from their owners but might ask the city to acquire them by eminent domain and sell them to him. "My hope is that we can just sit down and figure out a right price on a private basis and not make it a public process," Caruso said in an interview.

My, how shopping centers are growing up! Remember when Spielberg launched a silly submarine-themed restaurant at the Century City shopping mall in the days before it added Westfield to its name? Now as part of a timely nip 'n' tuck, the mall has added a second-story dining terrace with outdoor tables and a view of Century City skyscrapers. The latest tenant? Obikà Mozzarella Bar, by way of Rome and Milan and 11 other locations in five countries. Sleek and urban, Obikà feels like a contemporary caffè in any big Italian city ?

Associated Press The nation's biggest mall operator is teaming up with a Silicon Valley start-up to reward smart-phone-equipped shoppers for walking into its shopping centers. The partnership between Simon Property Group, which owns 370 shopping centers, including two dozen in California, and technology company Shopkick Inc. is a big step in realizing retailers' long-held dream of using cellphones to beam ads and coupons to people as they're passing by. Simon is launching the program by the end of the month in 25 malls in New York, Chicago, Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Since designing Santa Monica Place mall more than three decades ago, Frank Gehry has become a world-renowned architect and Santa Monica has become one of the most lively and thriving beach cities. The suburban-style mall, however, languished in time, walled off from the increasingly vibrant street life. Now a developer is betting it can become hip again. Macerich Co. spent $265 million to rip the mall at Third Street and Broadway down to its steel foundations and rebuild it as a three-story outdoor shopping venue.

These days when a business withers on the vine it's usually because of the sagging economy. But a 73-year-old Fairfax District landscape center is shutting down so that a blossoming neighbor can sprout a new commercial venture. The venerable Mordigan Nurseries near the northwest corner of 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue will close Aug. 15 so the even older A. F. Gilmore Co. can redevelop a key parcel at the intersection. The 95-year-old Gilmore Co. also owns the popular Farmers Market on the northeast corner of the intersection as well as the property occupied by the Grove, the huge shopping and entertainment center.

For a gourmet meal, head on over to ... the food court? Battered by the recession and competition from non-mall retailers, shopping centers are trying to attract customers with a decidedly upscale culinary hook. Burger joints and smoothie shops are giving way to sushi bars and churrascarias. Flatware is replacing plastic utensils. And forget grungy cafeteria seating with the sticky table tops and fluorescent lighting. Now customers are chowing down in Wi-Fi-equipped patios with lush landscaping, waterfalls, fireplaces and city and ocean views.