Here are some news and notes on retail and retail real estate from around the Web today.
- Peter Slatin writes about how REITs appear to be out of the woods. Stock valuations are up and many are now raising funds that could lead to a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the near future. We touched on similar ground, looking in depth at retail REITs and how many have conducted secondary offerings in the past few months. The conclusion being reached by many in the industry is that we will some separation and the strong will swallow the weak in coming months and years.
- Sears is unhappy that TheStreet.com mocked its MyGofer concept--which is described as a drive-through general store. BNET Retail gives a rundown of Sears' response along with analysis of how MyGofer compares with other retail initiatives.
- Gerson Lehman Growth posted a commentary on the question of commercial mortgage financing and argues that the many owners will not be able to get refinancing as things sit today. My post from earlier today touches on similar themes. There's a lot of debt to be refinanced. CMBS is dormant, but traditional sources of financing are out there. Can those sources refinance everything? Unlikely. But there are lenders out there.
- The New York Times looks at how the government's Legacy Loan Program isn't working out. The FDIC has put a halt on the program for now.
- CoStar looked at how small retailers are seizing opportunities to expand in the current economic climate.
- Lastly, May same-store sales figures came out today--the first without Wal-Mart reporting. Here's a recap we posted earlier today.
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