HQ in Wayne, PA Pet Valu to Shut Nearly 360 Retail Stores and Warehouses in US

 By Linda Moss CoStar News

In yet another casualty of the pandemic, pet-supply retailer Pet Valu plans to shutter all its nearly 360 U.S. stores and warehouses.

The chain said it is winding down its operations, its brick-and-mortar sites in the Northeast and Midwest, as well as closing its corporate headquarters in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

"The company's stores have been significantly impacted by the protracted COVID-19-related restrictions," Jamie Gould, Pet Valu's recently appointed chief restructuring officer, said in a statement. "After a thorough review of all available alternatives, we made the difficult but necessary decision to commence this orderly wind down."

Pet Valu joins a long and seemingly ever-growing list of brick-and-mortar retailers that have been put out of business amid the COVID-19 outbreak, including Lord & Taylor and Pier One Imports.

Pet Valu U.S., operating for more than 25 years, licenses its name and contracts for services from Pet Valu Canada, a separate company headquartered in Markham, Ontario. The Canadian business, a chain with about 600 stores, is not affected by the U.S. move.

Pet Valu is owned by Roark Capital Group, a private equity firm based in Atlanta. The retailer operates small-format stores that sell premium pet food and supplies.

All Pet Valu's U.S. stores currently remain open, but the retailer said it expects to start store-closing sales in the coming days.

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TSW Alloy Wheels to Open New Lehigh Valley Distribution Center

TSW Alloy Wheels has purchased an industrial building in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley and will be using it as a new distribution center.

The aftermarket automotive alloy wheel maker acquired the building, located at 4650 Braden Blvd. E. in Easton, from developer J.G. Petrucci Company Inc., which completed construction on the distribution warehouse this year.

TSW was drawn to the Braden Boulevard facility's access to the Northeast's major metropolitan regions, allowing TSW to further expand into the Northeast. The property's location puts more than 40% of the nation's population within a single-day's drive and will allow TSW to provide customers with their products within 24 to 48 hours, J.G. Petrucci said in a statement.

TSW's new distribution property totals 105,840 square feet and features a 36-foot clear height, a capacity of up to 26 dock doors, two drive-in doors, motion sensor LED lighting, ESFR fire sprinkler system and 4,000 amps of power. The industrial building will be divided into two suites, with TSW occupying about 60,000 square feet of the building.

TSW first opened a distribution center in Southern California before expanding its presence in the United States to eight distribution centers.

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Mall Owners Pennsylvania REIT and CBL File for Chapter 11

 By Mark Heschmeyer CoStar News

Just as the holiday shopping season swings into gear, two major shopping center and mall real estate investment trust have succumbed to the hardships retailers are facing after the pandemic forced many businesses to close and led to a rapid and massive shift in consumer spending.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust and CBL & Associates Properties filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization overnight after vying unsuccessfully for months to restructure their debts out of court. The REIT has owned and operated millions of square feet of retail space in more than a dozen sites up and down the East Coast and Michigan.

The owners and operators of enclosed malls and shopping centers were among the first REITs to acknowledge last spring that ongoing retailer bankruptcies and consumer and government responses to curb the COVID-19 pandemic made bankruptcy a real possibility.

PREIT filed a prepackaged financial restructuring plan under which the company seeks to be recapitalized and have its debt maturities extended.

PREIT announced last month that it had entered into restructuring agreement with more than 95% of its bank lenders. The deal was contingent upon getting approval from 100% of its lenders.

The plan calls for providing an additional $150 million to recapitalize the business. The Chapter 11 filing looks to secure court approval for a similar plan.

“We are grateful for the significant support we have received from a substantial majority of our lenders, which we expect will enable us to complete our financial restructuring on an expedited basis,” Joseph F. Coradino, CEO of PREIT, said in a statement. “With the overwhelming support of our lenders, we look forward to quickly emerging from this process.”

CBL & Associates and 176 affiliated companies also each filed petitions in the bankruptcy court seeking relief under Chapter 11, retaining the Berkeley Research Group to advise it.

CBL owns and manages more than 100 properties in 26 states, including dozens of enclosed, open-air and outlet retail centers. It said the bankruptcy filing came after months of discussions about alternatives, before executives decided Chapter 11 offered the best choice.

“With an aggregate of approximately $1.5 billion in unsecured debt and preferred obligations eliminated and a significant increase to net cash flow, upon emergence, CBL will be in a better position to execute on our strategies and move forward as a stable and profitable business,” Stephen D. Lebovitz, CEO of CBL, said in a statement.

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