Weekly Perl: A Commercial Real Estate News Recap
Holiday Spending Drives Retail Gains
Holiday retail spending grew 4.2% in the US as in-store sales captured 73% of spend, with strong gains in electronics and apparel...
DC-area restaurant closings rise, with midpriced dining hit hardest
Restaurant closings in and around Washington, D.C., increased more than 25% this year, with midpriced establishments hit the hardest, as the industry endured mounting obstacles to attract diners and make a profit.
At least 92 eateries closed this year through November, already surpassing 2024's total of 73, according to a Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington survey of more than 140 restaurants conducted in the fall. During the same period, openings totaled 109, down 30% from 2024, the group said...
Five trends that shaped retail performance in 2025

While many were calling for 2025 to be the year that the U.S. retail sector turned downward, it remained resilient in the face of rising closures and bankruptcies. In fact, the second half of this year is shaping up to be one of the best-performing halves of the past decade.
Here are five key trends that drove the retail sector's performance in 2025...
Retail Centers Show Resilience in 2025 Performance Trends
Despite predictions of a downturn, retail centers performed strongly in 2025, reports CoStar. Resilient consumer spending, particularly among higher-income groups, supported retail sales and in turn, demand for retail space. US retail sales rose 3.5% year-over-year, with personal consumption expenditures up 2.8%, helping retail fundamentals remain stable even as inflation cooled to 2.8%...
Trader Joe's adds to US holdings with one of Santa Monica’s biggest retail deals

Supermarket chain Trader Joe's has purchased a former Rite Aid store in one of Southern California's most affluent cities, adding to the grocer's growing portfolio of owned properties across the nation.
Monrovia, California-based Trader Joe’s, known for its value-priced, private-label groceries, bought a freestanding vacant retail store in Santa Monica for $22 million, or about $1,200 per square foot, from a private family trust, according to CoStar data. Rite Aid vacated the space this year as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing...
How this eatery aims to be the next big mall snack
The founder behind Japanese rice snack chain Onigilly is preparing a retail rollout that aims to turn the once-niche food ubiquitous in Japan into a fixture in Southern California's shopping centers as small food spaces become more common in U.S. malls.

Koji Kanematsu, a former computer systems developer, founded Onigilly after moving to San Francisco from Japan in 2006. The company's name leans into the Japanese pronunciation of onigiri, a small triangular snack made from seasoned short-grain rice and fillings such as cooked tuna, salmon and even fried chicken wrapped in a strip of crisp nori seaweed...
Retail Spending Trends Defy Consumer Sentiment
Retail spending trends remain surprisingly robust, with holiday-period sales increasing by around 4% year-over-year, according to Mastercard and Visa data. However, Globe St reports that once inflation is accounted for, this growth flattens, revealing that Americans are spending more dollars but not necessarily purchasing more goods. These trends come amid declining consumer sentiment since April 2024, underscoring growing uncertainty in the retail sector...
