Puma plans store at Block 37; Apple closer to lease
(Crain's) — German sportswear giant Puma A.G. plans to open a flagship store at Block 37, while sources say Apple Inc. and trendy clothier Zara are moving closer to signing leases at the new shopping center in the Loop.
Puma, the world's third-largest sporting goods company, has leased a two-level space along State Street that's almost 8,500 square feet, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The new shopping center at Block 37, between Randolph and Washington streets, is to open early next year and will also feature an eight-screen Muvico movie theater and a David Barton Gym.
Executives with the project's developer, Joseph Freed & Associates LLC, declined to comment. Representatives of Puma, which has local stores at 1051 N. Rush St. and in northwest suburban Schaumburg, couldn't be reached late Tuesday.
Puma has become hip in recent years, making the lease among the most notable wins for Freed since the Palatine-based developer took over the retail portion of Block 37 in fall 2006. For more than a year, Freed executives have said the firm was targeting fashionable, full-price merchants like Herzogenaurach, Germany-based Puma.
News of the Puma lease also comes one week after Freed announced it has three tenants on board for its redevelopment of the Carson Pirie Scott & Co. building, now known as Sullivan Center, at 1 S. State St.
Gourmet grocer Fox & Obel has leased 25,000 square feet in the building at the corner of State and Madison, while Australian casual clothing retailer Billabong and the Oak Park-based restaurant chain Flat Top Grill are planning to open stores in the historic building.
Freed also is moving its headquarters from Palatine to the office portion of the Sullivan Center this summer.
The retail leases suggest that Freed is having luck marketing the roughly 500,000 square feet of retail space in the two projects despite a slowing economy that has retailers pulling back their expansion plans.
"State Street is strong and getting stronger," says a spokeswoman with the business group Chicago Loop Alliance.
Sources say Freed is making progress in talks with iPod maker Apple to take a one-level store at Block 37 that could be as large as 6,000 square feet. Meanwhile Zara, which is part of Europe's largest fashion retailer, Inditex S.A., is close to a deal for a two-level store at Block 37 that would be about 10,000 square feet. Zara has already signed leases to open larger stores at 700 N. Michigan Ave. and one at the Old Orchard mall in Skokie, which is to open this fall.
Puma has stores in 22 states in the U.S., Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, according to the company's Web site. Puma had annual sales last year of 2.37 billion euros ($3.71 billion), making it the third-largest sporting goods maker behind Nike Inc. and fellow German company Adidas A.G.
