Lighting The Way A small Maryland lighting company is changing the way customers see shopping centers. In this age when shopping center owners and developers are constantly opening newer, bigger, better centers, managers of older centers must keep...

Finish Line store designer plays up the sports theme with durable, maple hardwood flooring. When Austin, Texas-based Mann & Mann Architects was asked to upgrade the Finish Line athletic footwear and apparel stores, Dwayne Mann didn't hesitate...

No time to rest on our laurels Information -- the speed at which it flows and how we choose to act on it -- is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge in the business world. Today's new breed of real estate lenders and investors demands a level...

Trane Receives Environmental Award The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency honored The Trane Co., La Crosse, Wis., with its Cli-mate Protection Award for the company's Earth-Wise CenTraVac. The award noted that the "... chiller uses an...

New concept teams technology with movie craze to produce virtual box office for the common area. It's 16 feet wide, 15 feet high and 5 feet thick, with two 8-by-4-foot screens showing movie trailers. It sits in the common area of a mall, attracts...

Relocation Clause Counsel One issue of key concern in almost every retail lease is negotiation of the relocation clause. A landlord wants the ability to relocate a tenant at any time, for any reason, during the entirety of the lease term. On the...

Reinvigorated Wards chain hopes new store prototype will help it emerge from Chapter 11 and rebuild its image. Three years ago, decorative accessories were virtually non-existent in the mass-merchandised furniture department at Wards stores...

Xando Brews Ambiance, Coffee Cocktails In one corner of the room, customers sit on U-shaped settees eating grilled panini sandwiches and drinking mocha martinis. At nearby tables, couples drink espresso and make chocolate, graham cracker and...

Imaged by FRCH, Haggar Clothing Co.'s new outlet store incorporates elements straight from the sewing room floor. In many circles, older is wiser. For Dallas-based Haggar Clothing Co., seven decades of manufacturing and retailing have not spurred...

New Ventures A joint venture has been completed between Santa Ana, Calif.-based First American Financial Corp. and Des Moines, Iowa-based Norwest Mortgage Inc. Operating under a holding company called RELS LLC, the venture will provide multiple...