Simon's New Retailer for Home Decor - Analyst Blog

Simon Property Group Inc. (SPG), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently announced the introduction of a new global retailer to its retail mix in ‘The Shops at Sunset Place', an open-air shopping mall in South Miami, Florida. CasaIdeas, a Chilean premier retailer specializing in stylish and affordable home-décor items, opened its first U.S. store in the Florida mall as part of its global expansion strategy.

With 70 exclusive designers working round-the-clock, CasaIdeas stocks over 500 new items every three weeks or over 10,000 unique home creations every year. The product portfolio includes exclusively designed home-décor items that enable customers to create unique environments and fashion daily spaces in a playful and creative way.

Since its inception in 1993, CasaIdeas has rapidly expanded in 31 cities across Latin America through strong sales of its unique, yet affordably priced products. The new store would also seek to capitalize on the festive season and holiday shopping spree to mark a gala opening.

Spanning across 502,000 square feet of space, The Shops at Sunset Place is anchored by leading retailers such as Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS), Gap Inc. (GPS) and Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN). The shopping mall features a waterfall and a cascading fountain amidst a dramatic grand staircase, and offers a plethora of dining and entertainment destinations in the region. The mall is owned and managed by Simon Property.

Simon Property is the largest publicly traded retail real estate company in North America with assets in almost all retail distribution channels. The company generally enters into long-term leases with its tenants, which insulate it from short-term market swings that have weighed on other players in the industry.

Furthermore, the company's international presence gives it a more sustainable long-term growth story than its domestically focused peers. The geographic and product diversity of the company safeguards it from market volatility and provides a steady source of income.

We maintain our ‘Neutral' rating on Simon Property, which presently has a Zacks #3 Rank that translates into a short-term ‘Hold' rating and indicates that the stock is expected to perform in line with the overall U.S. equity market for the next 1–3 months.

 
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