Weekly Perl: A Commercial Real Estate News Recap
Morning Consult: Five Below, other retailers among 25 fastest-growing brands
Five Below is one of the fastest-growing brands in the U.S.
The tween and teen extreme value retailer is the No. 10 fastest-growing brand overall and the only retailer to crack the top 10 in Morning Consult’s “Fastest Growing Brands 2026” report. The study ranks the top 25 brands according to year-over-year purchasing intent. A re-launched, decades-old soda brand, Mr. Pibb, ranked No. 1.
Five Below’s purchasing consideration increased 3.2 points this year, according to the report. (The retailer recently reported that its
second-quarter sales rose 22.9% to $1.26 billion...)
10-Year Treasury Yield Hit 4.8%, Highest Since 2023
Interest rates are on the rise across the yield curve. The 10-year Treasury note closed at a high yield of
4.8%, a level not seen in nearly three years and more than 60 basis points above
estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), while the 2-year Treasury yield is at a near 2-year high of 4.4%. If rates remain this high above projections, it would add an additional
$2.3 trillion to the debt
over the next decade.
Last month, the 30-year bond reached a 19-year record yield of 5.3% and remain nearly that high despite the Treasury Department’s August announcement to increase the size of its buyback program...
Signage can affect customer behavior – here’s how
Business signage can directly influence whether consumers notice, trust and purchase from a retailer.
More than eight in 10 (84%) surveyed U.S. consumers say signage impacts their decision to purchase from a business. In addition, four in 10 (39%) respondents to a new national survey conducted on behalf of sign franchise Signarama by The Harris Poll have entered a business solely because of its sign and 26% say a business's signage has directly encouraged them to recommend the business to others...
Costco August sales up 9.9% amid higher gas prices, digital growth
Costco Wholesale Corp. maintained momentum in August as its average worldwide transaction increased, boosted by higher gas prices.
The membership warehouse giant reported that its net sales increased 9.9% to $23.70 billion in August. For the 16-week fourth quarter, net sales increased 11.3% to $93.9 billion.
Total company comparable sales rose 8.4% in August. Comp sales increased 9% in the U.S., and 4% in Canada. Other international comps rose 9.5%. Digitally-enabled comp sales surged 17.5%...
Target opening eight stores in July and August — here are the locations
Target Corp. is celebrating the opening of eight new stores this summer — including its 320th location in California.
The openings are part of the 20 new locations that
Target plans to open this year, and also reflect the retailer’s commitment to building
more than 300 stores over the next decade. Target is also leaning into
larger footprints. Three of the new locations top the chain’s 125,000-sq.-ft. store average...
The Data Center Index
Which communities are fighting data centers — scored from what their governments actually did, not what they said.
Two years of council-meeting transcripts plus a curated ledger of enacted denials, moratoria, and bans. Before a moratorium makes headlines, the opposition is already in the council record — documented, timestamped, and building. This page is the public preview: the map, the four bands, the ten strongest records. The rest is a 20-minute call...
Jersey Mike’s is Chasing More Customers, Not More Pricing
Jersey Mike's has over 1,600 restaurants in its pipeline.
Jersey Mike’s has a clear destination for its restaurants. The sandwich giant wants average unit volumes to climb from roughly $1.4 million to $2 million.
Its path there is starting with transactions.
Same-store sales rose 2.3 percent in the second quarter, accelerating from 1.7 percent in Q1. The increase was driven primarily by transactions, and momentum carried into the third quarter, with comps tracking above 3 percent at the time of Jersey Mike’s inaugural earnings call on Wednesday...
Treasury Yield Risk Keeps CRE Borrowing Costs Elevated
GlobeSt.com says the biggest rate question for commercial real estate is shifting toward the long end of the yield curve. In
its analysis of Treasury yield risks, the publication describes a market where inflation, federal borrowing, and corporate issuance can keep financing expensive even if policy expectations change. That matters because long-term Treasury rates feed directly into CRE debt pricing and return requirements...
Viral Video Claims Santa Monica's New Digital Billboards Track Your Phone, Operator Says They Don't
SANTA MONICA, CA — A video circulating among Santa Monica residents claims the city's newly installed Third Street Promenade digital displays automatically connect with pedestrians' smartphones and can cause advertising shown on the signs to subsequently appear on their phones.
The company operating the displays says that is not how they work.
Orange Barrel Media Vice President of West Coast Development Clay Collett told Patch Tuesday that the Santa Monica displays contain no technology capable of detecting, tracking or communicating with nearby smartphones — and collect no data from people passing them...
Scooter’s Has a Role to Play in the Drive-Thru Coffee Rush
As Dutch Bros and 7 Brew bid over sites, Black Rock Coffee Bar navigates publicly traded life, and Starbucks regains traction after years of choppiness, Scooter’s Coffee has steadily expanded in a category suddenly flush with growth brands.
Scooter’s had 555 of its drive-thru-focused stores at the start of 2023. But that calendar proved a major catapult, with the company adding a net of 195 venues to exit at 650 (729 of which were franchised). Then, in 2024, Scooter’s grew by net 99 locations (96 franchised) and followed with development of 57 this past year, finishing at 906 (882 franchised and 24 affiliate run)...
