SPG
#Look, I think they are both very competent developers, re-developers, so at the end of the day my guess is it's not going to be all that crazily different.
But so much of that is dependent upon the location and the local market.
But they are both competent developers.
I would probably venture to say it will be similar.
But if they are better than us, we intend to copy immediately, okay.
Well, look, I would just say generally there's obviously the whole movement toward value on one hand and luxury on the other continues.
The general ---+ the good news about that is we're positioned in both of those barbells extremely well.
But that's not to say where people lose sight of that ---+ that's not to say the middle American mall isn't doing well.
It's part of the community; it gets ignored from a media point of view; there's assumptions made about those assets.
There's extrapolation, because one mall went out of business, that all malls are going out of business.
But I would say to you that the solid middle malls throughout America continue to do well, serve their purpose.
But you clearly see a movement in a lot of retailers from either aspirational, higher-end goods or value.
There's no question about that.
The one comment I would make to you on the new retailers we are dealing with is that they are substantially more sophisticated than the crop of new retailers we dealt with say 10 years ago.
Better financed, much more focused on their niche.
And it's been much easier to deal with this new crop of entrepreneurs than might've been the case (technical difficulty) last [play].
And look, in today's world, we all have to be better.
We all have to be on our game better.
So that's just ---+ that comes with ---+ I don't care what industry it's in, I mean everybody.
The rapid changes in the world is putting pressure on every industry, every operator.
And that's why you've got to have strong people, strong assets, and a strong balance sheet to deal with it all.
You know, look, there are a couple of differences across the thing in our business.
The Great Lakes, southeast and Pacific are stronger; mountain and New England were a little weaker.
The better categories were home furniture, food, personal care, jewelry, and athletic shoes.
I mean I'd say, <UNK>, you're clearly ---+ the stronger dollar and the economic upheavals in growing markets but with wealthy people ---+ Brazil, what's going on with China, and their focus on obviously Europe with the stronger dollar ---+ I mean it has impacted sales in the high tourist centers.
And we've got them.
There's no question.
We've got them in South Florida.
We've got them in Orlando.
We don't have New York City; we have Woodbury, which has been relatively flat.
And that's usually a center that grows every year.
And I think that's more of all the stuff going on with the center than the tourism.
But the tourism centers have had a little softness.
You see it in the hotel industry, so we're not immune to that.
I'd say it's had no impact on leasing.
Well, I mentioned it briefly earlier which is ---+ look, we're doing the southwest corridor.
We're finalizing the permits there, which is more administrative.
So it is all shaping up to ---+ we start to dig down to support the foundation going up.
That's all moving.
The southwest corridor should start in the next month.
So we have certain failsafe.
The way the building is being constructed, we have failsafes.
For instance, we're going to do the southwest corridor first, which is because we've got to create a new entrance to create the way to build.
We've got to go down into the Turnpike, so we have to create the new entrance first.
That's happening.
That's been approved by us.
Then we go down into the Turnpike.
Then we go up to support the steel going up.
So we will be making that incremental decision; but once we do the southwest, we will do that.
Then building the podium is where it's really guts poker.
That's a year decision from now.
But all systems are go and we are cranking.
We don't see any reason to stop.
The nice thing about this is that we can stop, look, and listen to the market a year from now.
And yes, we would have an investment in it, but we'll always be able to go up.
I don't see any reason why we wouldn't go up.
But we're certainly going to go down and build our way up to create the platform to build the tower.
I would comment on Deliv that Macy's just recently announced that they are expanding the footprint of stores in which Deliv is going to be working with them.
So that is certainly a positive sign, and we continue to believe that there is a significant role for all of our properties to play in the fulfillment aspect of an omnichannel retail business, and it's moving apace.
I think it's just a function of getting the systems right, getting the retailers to the point where they're ready to fulfill from their store.
There's a big systems upgrade that's going on right now across the entire industry, and ultimately it is going to be a seamless, integrated experience for our consumers.
And certainly fulfilling from the store to their home is going to be part of that, and Deliv can be part of that solution.
Well, that would have to be a negotiated part of the deal.
But it seems to me they've got the balance sheet to be able to do that.
But I'm sure we could figure it out if they didn't.
Well, we're joint venture partners.
It's both.
It's approval on both sides.
I'd say we're taking the lead on coming up with the plans and the redevelopment and the different uses.
But they're riding copilot with us.
I would also say to you that we have significant ---+ another number of Sears stores that are not in our venture that are in Seritage.
And when we meet with Seritage we are actively working with them, as we have done in the past, to help them redeploy those spaces in a productive way.
An example of that is <UNK>ng of Prussia where Dick's now opened and Primark is opening this fall.
And between the two of them they will 100% occupy the former Sears store.
No.
Yes, they don't have the infrastructure to get stuff done like we do.
So I don't see the dynamics changing.
I don't know even how to interpret your question.
We spun off WPG well over a year ago.
They are a separate, independent company.
They are focused on the strip center and the B mall business.
You can hear that directly from them.
We do services for them that ultimately will go away mid next year.
And their growth opportunities are better discussed with them.
I think our focus, as you have seen over the years, is to buy the bigger assets or assets that we feel we can improve upon.
But the primary focus is on our redevelopment or finding different vehicles for growth, whether it's Europe, whether it's HBC, etc.
, and continuing to grow our business.
I don't ---+ I said to you, I'm out of the big deal business.
We're not going to buy B assets.
I think that's better for others to do, given what's on our plate.
But ---+ I'm not sure I answered the question, but I tried.
I think that business is better for others to do.
But that's ---+ I'm not ---+ that's not up to me to decide.
Well, we're always doing that.
We just do it; we don't do it ahead of that.
So we are ---+ we have a deal that's closing mid-August that was a lot of work, and we just didn't want to deal with it.
We're close on another deal.
So yes, we do that.
<UNK>, I know, if you looked at our history, we sold a bunch of stuff.
So yes, we'll always sell assets.
Always part of our ---+
Yes.
We market.
We've marketed ---+ the two that I am referring to were marketed, yes.
There could be a few deals here there.
But if you look at it year-over-year, year-to-date it's not all that different than 2014.
So it's lumpy.
Sure, it's lumpy, but I don't think it's going to be all that different, <UNK>, right.
From ---+
No, about the same as 2014.
Same as 2014.
That's a business that's lumpy in terms of quarter to quarter.
Quarter to quarter ---+ it's actually relatively consistent year-over-year.
Okay, thank you.
Have a wonderful last few weeks of summer.
Sorry to have ruined your Friday on a summer Friday.
Enjoy.
