Tarrant Business

Goodwill Industries to open Granbury location

Goodwill Industries of Fort Worth will open a new 12,000-square-foot store, donation center and free career center at 1427 South Morgan Street (Hwy 144) in Granbury’s Port Brazos Center.

The store, which opens at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 10, is the 20^th location in the greater Fort Worth area.

The public is invited to an opening ceremony at 9 a.m.

"Every retail store that Goodwill is able to open means more revenue to support our job training and placement programs for individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment," said David Cox, president and CEO.

Goodwill said it is expanding to reach as many residents in Weatherford, Cleburne, Denton, Fort Worth and surrounding areas as possible.

The career center inside the Granbury location will provide Hood County residents with free access to job-search experts, computers, Internet and telephones. The career center will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The Granbury location will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday – Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Goodwill is a non-profit leader in providing education, training and career services for people with disabilities.

_ Sandra Baker

Costco plans north Fort Worth location

FORT WORTH — Costco Wholesale, the Washington-based membership warehouse club, is under contract to buy 17 acres of land in the Presidio Junction development in north Fort Worth where it plans its fourth Tarrant County location.

Steve McArthur, a real estate broker with Northwest Atlantic who works with Costco in the Texas market, said the company will begin construction on the store as soon as LNR Property Corp., Presidio’s developer, completes some infrastructure work at the site. Once that site work is completed, it will take Costco about four months to complete the store, he said.

McArthur said the store will likely open in late spring 2014.

The site, 8900 Tehama Ridge Parkway, is on the west side of Interstate 35W and south of North Tarrant Parkway, across from Alliance Town Center.

"We’re expanding in a lot of areas in Texas," McArthur said. "That’s one area we know has good housing growth."

Building permits recently issued by the city of Fort Worth show the store to be 153,847 square feet and will cost $11 million to build.

The store will have about 200 employees, half of which will be fulltime workers, he said.

Costco also has stores in Arlington, Southlake and in southwest Fort Worth.

Presidio Junction is a 300-acre master-planned community of Newport Beach, Calif.-based LNR, which bought the land in 2007. LNR has planned 1 million square feet for shops and restaurants, 1,300 apartments and 750,000 square feet for a hotel, fitness center and Class A office space.

LNR has a regional office in Dallas.

_ Sandra Baker

Sleep Experts coming to West 7th development

Sleep Experts has leased the space next to Freebirds World Burrito at the northeast corner of West Seventh and Foch street, said developer Cypress Equities in Dallas.

The 3,035-square-foot store is expected to open in May. It will be Sleep Experts third Fort Worth location. It has stores near Ridgmar and Hulen malls.

"We are eager to welcome Sleep Experts to our development along the Seventh Street retail corridor," said Michael Wheat, executive vice president, director of leasing for Cypress Equities.

Bryan Cornelius and Dave Carter with Venture Commercial represented Sleep Experts. Karly Kilroy with Cypress Equities provided in-house representation.

_ Sandra Baker

Tandy Leather Chairman Thompson resigns

Fort Worth-based Tandy Leather Factory said Tuesday that Chairman Wray Thompson
resigned from his position and as a member of the company's board effective immediately. Joseph Mannes, a director since 1998 and chairman of the audit committee, was named acting chairman until the next annual meeting of shareholders "or until his successor has been elected and qualified."  William M. Warren, currently secretary and general counsel, was elected a director. He is also president and director of Loe, Warren, Rosenfield, Kaitcer, Hibbs,
Windsor & Lawrence, P.C., a Fort Worth law firm.

In a prepared release, Thompson said: "My career with Tandy Leather has been a rewarding one. But even more satisfying is knowing that I leave this company in the capable hands of a solid board and management team. They have a strong belief in Tandy Leather's potential and a great vision
for getting there. I am confident that they will continue to manage the company with great success."

Tandy Leather (ticker: TLF) has 29 Leather Factory stores in 19 states and Canada, 78 Tandy Leather retail stores in 37 states Canada, and three combination wholesale/retail stores in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Spain.

-- Jim Fuquay

Centennial says it's restructuring, not liquidating

Centennial Beverage Group, the Dallas-based liquor retailer that last week closed a undisclosed number of  stores and promoted an "inventory liquidation," issued a statement dated Friday that said it “has been strategically restructuring in recent months but is not shutting down operations." The company did not return telephone calls seeking more information Friday, but a company representative on Saturday morning left a message with the Star-Telegram saying Centennial had posted a statement on the website PRWeb.com.

In that release, Greg Wonsmos, CEO of Centennial Beverage Group, said: "Recent rumors that Centennial Beverage Group is shutting down are incorrect. However, we have closed locations that do not fit within our strategic plan for 2013 and beyond. Centennial is grateful for all our loyal customers and we look forward to continue serving them at a number of locations going forward, including stores operating under the Centennial, Majestic and Big Daddy’s brands.” 

Centennial had been the subject of reports in November that it was closing some stores and that it also had a string of unpaid bills to distributors. As of  this morning, dozens of the stores Centennial, Majestic, Big Daddy's and Arlington Bottle Shop locations were still on the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission's list of outlets with delinquent payments. Wonsmos, however, said "rumors Centennial had not paid taxes and rent were false." In his statement, Wonsmos said "Centennial is current with all of its payments to taxing authorities and all of its landlords. We have a plan to pay our delinquent accounts payable to our alcohol beverage distributors. We will be meeting with them in the next week to discuss that plan. We are current with all other vendors.”

-- Jim Fuquay

Centennial Beverages downsizing apparently now more than that

What was first reported last month as another round of store closings by Centennial Beverage Group, owner of the Majestic, Big Daddy's and Centennial liquor stores in North Texas, apparently is now much more than just a few more stores. In ads today the chain says its "Inventory Liquidation!" is at all locations, where "Everything Must Go!" At its office on Pioneer Parkway in Arlington, signs promoting the event have popped up just since Thursday. Company officials could not be reached for comment this morning. But a woman identified as the manager of the Big Daddy's at 5301 W. Pioneer Parkway in Arlington said that to her knowledge, that store wasn't slated to close. She declined to give her name. Inside, the store was busy but appeared to be fully stocked.

The DFW liquor market has become markedly more competitive with the entry of new retailers. Total Wine & More has opened big stores in Fort Worth and Dallas, Dallas-based Goody Goody has added three Tarrant County stores and Houston-based Spec's Wine and Spirits has jumped into the market. Centennial Beverage closed seven Dallas-Fort Worth stores in February, a year after buying former competitor Majestic out of bankruptcy. At that time, the company still operated 63 stores in DFW. The Star-Telegram reported last month that the company planned an undetermined number of store closings, as well as that many of its stores were behind on millions in payments to distributors, according to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

-- Jim Fuquay

GameStop shares jump despite big third-quarter loss

Grapevine-based GameStop reported a big loss for the third quarter after taking $679 million in write-downs, but also said it expects the holiday season to produce slightly better profits than analysts are predicting for the fourth quarter. GameStop’s shares (ticker: GME) were up more than 4 percent in early trading on the news.

The world’s biggest video-game retailer said third-quarter sales were off 8.9 percent in the third quarter, to $1.77 billion, compared to a year earlier. It blamed the drop on an unusually strong 2011 third quarter that saw the introduction of “major new software titles.” Its net loss for the quarter was $624 million after the non-cash write-downs, which included $627 million in goodwill and $52 million in asset impairments. The company said the actions were based on a decline in its share price in the second quarter and on its international operations. Not counting the write-downs, GameStop earned $47 million in the quarter, or 38 cents a share, which topped Wall Street estimates by 2 cents.

It said that despite a “tough video-game market,” it expects to earn between $2.07 to $2.27 a share in the fourth quarter. The midpoint of that range, $2.17, is 1 cent above the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg News. A wild card is the scheduled Sunday release of Nintendo Co.’s new Wii U, the slumping video-game industry’s first new home console in six years.

-- Jim Fuquay

Southlake real estate firm buys eight shopping centers in Texas

Southlake-based N3 Real Estate has paid Dallas-based St. Ives Realty $25 million for its Texas retail portfolio, the firm announced.

The portfolio includes eight properties totaling 172,329 square feet and are all centers located next to Walmart Supercenters in Alamo, Dumas, Hereford, Weatherford, Red Oak and Sweetwater. Shopping center tenants include Verizon, GameStop, Dollar Tree, Rent-a-Center, and Beall’s, among others.

N3 paid for the portfolio through its $250 million Retail Development Investment Fund.

N3 has bought and developed more than 200 single and multi-tenant retail projects for national and local retailers across the U. S. since it was founded in 2004.

_ Sandra Baker

The LOFT opens Friday in Fort Worth's Sundance Square

Mark Friday morning on your calendars for the opening of the LOFT women’s apparel and accessories store in downtown Fort Worth’s Sundance Square.

The 5,394-square-foot store, at the corner of Houston and Third streets, opens at 10 a.m. During opening weekend, shoppers who spend $75 or more will receive a special tote as a gift.

Sundance Square announced the new tenant in May and has since been renovating some of the former Billy Miner’s space for the store. It is across from Sundance Square’s $110 million expansion project now underway that includes three buildings for offices, shops and restaurants and residences. It also includes a public plaza.

Other clothing retailers in Sundance Square are Jos. A. Bank, Leddy’s Ranch and Pappagallo Classiques.

LOFT operates 500 stores across the U.S. and online at LOFT.com. LOFT is a division of Ann Inc.

_ Sandra Baker

Saginaw shopping center bought by Denver-based real estate fund

Denver-based Baceline Investments, a boutique private equity real estate investment company with retail holdings throughout the central U.S., has bought the North Town Center, a 41,652-square-foot shopping and office center in Saginaw for $4.2 million.

It is the company’s seventh property acquired through its No Debt Fund III portfolio.

North Town Center, 1029 N. Saginaw Blvd., was 95 percent leased at the time of the sale to local and national retailers.

The two-building center was built in 1984.

"North Town Center is an ideal addition to our No Debt Fund III portfolio due to its visible and high traffic location, strong demographics in a fast growing community and an already high occupancy rate," said David Puchi, a Baceline principal. "It’s another proof point that the heartland, and particularly this region, continues to produce great opportunities for income-producing properties."

Baceline, founded in 2003, said it specializes in the acquisition, management, and sale of shopping centers in select secondary markets.

_ Sandra Baker