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The traditional shopping mall — once the community center in some cities — is being forced to reinvent itself or die at the hands of the online consumer, The New York Times reported.
As retailers start to close more and more stores, malls are faced with record vacancy rates. Sears Holdings is closing up to 120 stores, Gap Inc. 200 stores and Talbots 110. Abercrombie & Fitch closed 50 stores last year, Hot Topic, almost the same number. Chains that have filed for bankruptcy in recent years, like Blockbuster, Anchor Blue, Circuit City and Borders, have left hundreds of stores lying vacant in malls across the country...
Google ’s Android and Apple’s iOS both made gains in the number of mobile phones using the operating platforms in the U.S., while rivals Microsoft, RIM and Symbian slipped, according to comScore.
Overall, smartphone adoption exploded during the 2011 holiday shopping season, much of it driven by Apple’s sale of 37 million iPhones last quarter, TechFlash reports. Forty percent of all mobile subscribers now own smartphones in the United States. That's 97.9 million people.
Apple and Google operating systems now power 77 percent of the mobile phones in the country...
The Dow Jones industrial average hit its highest level since May 2008 on Friday after the government said the national unemployment rate had dropped to 8.3 percent, the Associated Press reports.
The Dow closed Friday at 12,826, up more than 150 points. Friday's big finish came after the Department of Labor announced the economy added 243,000 jobs in January.
Get more on the story here.
The Austin Open Air Market, which features products from local vendors, opened Sunday in Cedar Park.
Retailers include Moonshine Sweet Tea concentrate, Texas Sisters Country Signs, Christen's Gourmet Pralines and several other food, crafts and art.
The market is located outdoors at the Cedar Park Center and open every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
KVUE-TV has more on the story.
Traffic congestion around South Lamar Boulevard and Barton Springs Road is a growing concern among area residents as developers plan to build apartment complexes near the intersection.
Six apartment projects are currently being planned or are under construction, adding nearly 1,700 apartments in the next few years.
Areas where apartment complexes being planned include Sterzing Street and Barton Springs Road; 1717 Toomey Road; South Lamar Boulevard and Juliet Street; South Lamar Boulevard and Treadwell Street; 1219 S...
HOUSTON (GlobeSt.com) – Apache Corporation has not only renewed its lease of 365,000 sf at the Post Oak Central office building in Houston’s uptown submarket, it has tacked on an additional 132,000 sf.
SAN ANTONIO (San Antonio Business Journal) – CPS Energy has purchased a vacant 95,000-sf office building in the Sentry Gateway office complex that is currently under development on the city's west side.
FORT WORTH (Fort Worth Business Press) – Hillwood Properties announced this week plans to build more multifamily properties in North Texas, specifically within the company's 17,000-acre AllianceTexas master-planned development.
AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – Travis County housing developments that use groundwater are now subject to new regulations recently approved by county commissioners. Among them:
GEORGE WEST (mysoutex.com) – Gas and oil pipeline lease negotiation will be the topic of a workshop Monday, Feb. 6, in George West. Real Estate Center Attorney Judon Fambrough will be the guest speaker.
This 2,286-square-foot house, built around 1925, has no garage but does boast original details like pecky cypress ceilings, handblown stained-glass panes in the powder-room door and Cuban tile floors.
A real-estate tracking group says home sales in Connecticut dropped 13% in 2011 and sank to the lowest total since the firm began monitoring property data in 1987.
In a New York real-estate fantasy come true, young foodies driven from the East Village by rising apartment rents are seeing many of their old restaurant favorites appear in their new neighborhood, Williamsburg.
States have until late Monday to agree to the latest draft deal aimed at relieving homeowners struggling with mortgages bigger than their home's value.
Lean times call for budgetary triage. But while you should clearly opt for orthodontics before Disneyland, the choice is tougher when it comes to home maintenance.
Just one day after President Obama detailed a proposal to enable millions of homeowners to refinance to record-low mortgage rates, those rates notched another record.
The Obama administration on Wednesday detailed its latest plan to help millions of homeowners refinance their mortgages to today's historically-low rates.
Florida's cities were some of the hardest hit by the housing bust, but now they are leading the charge back. Of Realtor.com's top 10 turnaround towns, eight are in the Sunshine State.
Existing-home sales rose again in November and remain above a year ago. Also released today were periodic benchmark revisions with downward adjustments to sales and inventory data since 2007, led by a decline in for-sale-by-owners.
*Credit applied toward closing cost. If transaction price is less than $150,000, a $1000 credit will be given. Both a Realtor and loan officer from the Home Benefits Group must be used to receive the full credit. A 50% credit will be given if only a Realtor or loan officer from the Home Benefits Group is used and not both.
The traditional shopping mall — once the community center in some cities — is being forced to reinvent itself or die at the hands of the online consumer, The New York Times reported.
As retailers start to close more and more stores, malls are faced with record vacancy rates. Sears Holdings is closing up to 120 stores, Gap Inc. 200 stores and Talbots 110. Abercrombie & Fitch closed 50 stores last year, Hot Topic, almost the same number. Chains that have filed for bankruptcy in recent years, like Blockbuster, Anchor Blue, Circuit City and Borders, have left hundreds of stores lying vacant in malls across the country...