Net Lease News

 B+E Weekly Newsletter

January 30 – February 5, 2024

MARKET

IMF CHIEF ECONOMIST SAYS WORLD ECONOMY IS IN THE FINAL DESCENT TOWARD A SOFT LANDING | Fortune

• The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its outlook for the world economy this year, envisioning resilient growth led by the United States and a slower pace of inflation. In its latest outlook, the 190-country lending agency said Tuesday that it expects the global economy to grow 3.1% this year.
• For the United States, the IMF sharply marked up its estimate for growth this year, to 2.1% from the 1.5% it had penciled in three months ago. The U.S. economy expanded 2.5% in 2023 after an unexpected burst of year-end growth fueled by consumers willing to spend despite higher borrowing costs.

RESOUNDING HOUSE VOTE SENDS TAX COMPROMISE TO SENATE | Grant Thornton

• The overwhelming bipartisan vote allowed the House to pass the bill under an expedited procedure known as a suspension of the rules, but the process was not without hiccups.
• The $78 billion extenders bill now goes to the Senate with considerable momentum. Both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the White House have offered strong support, but the Senate process presents some procedural and political hurdles.
• The rate for bonus depreciation would no longer phase down gradually and would instead be scheduled to go from 100% in 2025 to 20% in 2026 and zero in 2027.

INDUSTRIAL

A LOOK AT ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING INDUSTRIAL MARKETS | Globe St.

• In recent years, developers have been drawn into a land rush of sorts with intense competition for suitable industrial sites near Georgia’s Port of Savannah. The result has been to flood the market with new inventory that has pushed up vacancy rates.
• Savannah is the second-largest seaport on the East Coast, the fourth largest in the U.S., and it serves as the gateway to and from foreign markets for much of the Southeast. 
• It was a major factor in South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group’s announcement in May 2022 of a plan to build a massive $5.4 billion plant to manufacture electric vehicles within a few miles of the port. The decision intensified the land rush, as the company’s many South Korean and other suppliers hunted land for new plants and developers got busy building warehouses nearby.

RETAIL

WALMART TO ADD 150 STORES IN FIVE-YEAR EXPANSION | Globe St.

• Walmart has announced adding 150 large-format stores over the next five years.
• John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., also said in a statement on Wednesday that the retail giant will remodel 650 of its existing stores during the next 12 months.
• Walmart is in the midst of a $9B upgrade of 1,400 stores, which are being remodeled to embrace the company’s “Store of the Future” concept, which has introduced new technology to store layouts and expanded product selections.

TRACTOR SUPPLY RAMPING UP EXPANSION; TO OPEN 80 STORES IN 2024 | Chain Store Age

• The nation’s largest rural lifestyle retailer’s capital plans for 2024 include opening 80 Tractor Supply stores (up from 70 in 2023) and 10 to 15 new Petsense by Tractor Supply stores as well as continuing its “Project Fusion” remodels and garden center revamps.
• In July, citing “market insights,” Tractor Supply increased its long-term store target to 3,000 locations, up 200 stores from its previous guidance.
•  During fiscal 2023, the company opened 70 new Tractor Supply stores and 13 new Petsense by Tractor Supply stores and closed one Tractor Supply store and one Petsense by Tractor Supply store. It also rebranded 81 Orscheln Farm and Home stores to Tractor Supply which it acquired in 2022.
• As of Dec. 30, 2023, the company operated 2,216 Tractor Supply stores in 49 states and 198 Petsense by Tractor Supply stores in 23 states.