Weekly Perl: A Commercial Real Estate News Recap
Cherished Malibu Seafood Shack The Reel Inn May Rebuild After State Reversal

Malibu’s one-of-a-kind seafood spot, The Reel Inn, may once again serve its signature fish puns and fried and grilled platters on Pacific Coast Highway after the state reversed its earlier position that blocked the restaurant’s return, according to Eater LA...
FirstBank Acquisition Expands PNC Reach In Colorado And Arizona
PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC) has announced a definitive agreement to acquire FirstBank Holding Co. The Lakewood, Colorado-based bank will be acquired in a $4.1B deal, reports REBusinessOnline. The acquisition includes FirstBank’s entire retail banking network. It will significantly expand PNC’s footprint in the western US, particularly in Colorado and Arizona...
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warns of a cloudy US economic outlook
CEO Jamie Dimon is cautious about the U.S. economic outlook, believing that the full effects of tariffs and other geopolitical headwinds have yet to fully unfold.
"I think you better be careful on that one (on the economic impact on the U.S.) because some of these things have long cycles. So we don’t know yet. People are expecting these things to happen right away. But actually, a lot of them haven’t happened," Dimon said in a podcast interview on Office Hours: Business Edition set to be released on Wednesday morning...
The Story of Cousins Maine Lobster: Food Trucks, Family, and a Billion-Dollar Brand
Years before Mike Carmody rose to Cousins Maine Lobster’s chief of operations, he was almost certain he would be fired.

It was 2017 and he was manning a food truck at cofounder Sabin Lomac’s family friend’s house in Maine—an event with around 50 people in attendance.
Carmody knew it was a big deal. Lomac wanted the CML truck to be here. He thought to himself, “We’ve got to nail this,” especially after coming off a week in which he posted an unacceptably high payroll...
Old Navy to sail into new territory: beauty
Old Navy will soon be making room at its stores to sell beauty products.

San Francisco-based Gap, Old Navy's parent, said it will test this year selling makeup and personal care products at the apparel chain. That phased launch will include 150 Old Navy stores featuring a curated assortment of beauty merchandise, "with select stores offering dedicated shop-in-shops and beauty associates," according to Gap. Next year, the company said it plans to "scale its Old Navy beauty business..."
Salomon opens second U.S. store as its plots more expansion — here’s where
Salomon is putting down more roots stateside.

The French sports lifestyle brand has opened its second U.S. store, in the heart of Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood. It follows the opening of Salomon’s store in New York City last year...
Lululemon Q2 sales driven mostly by global growth; expects $240 million tariff hit
Lululemon Athletica Inc. reported mixed second-quarter results and slashed its full-year earnings outlook as it deals with higher tariffs, staleness in its merchandise mix and falling demand in its core U.S. market.
The outlook includes an expected $240 million hit from tariffs and the recent end of the de minimis exemption...
Starbucks to give makeovers to 1,000 cafes by end of 2026
Starbucks Corp. is looking to make its U.S. locations more cozy and inviting.

The coffee giant said it is making over its cafes to create physically welcoming spaces that bring back familiar touches such as generous seating and designs reflecting the local community. Some locations in New York City and Southern California have already been given the makeover. By the end of 2026, some 1,000 coffeehouses will have been refreshed, with more to come in the years ahead...
Noodles & Company may be ready to serve itself up in a sale
Noodles & Company, slated to close several dozen restaurants this year, has kicked off a strategic review that includes possibly selling all or part of its business.

The Broomfield, Colorado-based chain, which has roughly 450 fast-casual eateries, said Wednesday it’s exploring a menu of options, including refinancing existing indebtedness, refranchising, other strategic or financial transactions, as well as a sale. The company has not set a deadline or definitive timetable to complete its review...
Retailers expand stores for expected luxury boom
Luxury retailers are still expanding their brick-and-mortar footprints in the United States despite headwinds from the economy and tariffs.

In the first half of the year, store growth substantially increased for upscale chains, with newly opened luxury retail square footage rising 65.1% compared with the same period in 2024, according to a JLL report released Tuesday. Luxury chains debuted 226,513 square feet of store space compared with 137,186 square feet in the prior year, the real estate firm said...
Albertsons plans 12 Safeway closures, including 10 in Colorado
Albertsons is planning to close 10 Safeway stores across Colorado and one each in New Mexico and Nebraska, a company spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday.

The closures come after the failed merger with Kroger and the recent prolonged labor negotiations with the United Food and Commercial Workers that included a two-week strike. They also follow a corporate restructuring earlier this year in which Albertsons merged its Intermountain and Denver divisions to form the Mountain West Division. In addition, the company laid off nearly 400 Safeway corporate staff as it launched a cost-cutting initiative in February...
Restaurants, bars, coffee shops drive US retail market
Restaurants, bars, and coffee shops are fueling the retail real estate market, accounting for nearly a fifth of all new leasing over the past year, as Americans spend record sums dining out despite higher prices.
New Census Bureau data shows consumers shelled out more than $100 billion at restaurants and coffee shops in July, a 5.6% increase over the past year and nearly 50% more than at the start of the pandemic, underscoring both the resilience of demand — as customers desire value and convenience — and the sector’s expanding footprint...
