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Brett Sheets, senior VP leasing for Phoenix-based Cole Real Estate Investments, sat down with Chain Store Age senior editor Katherine Boccaccio for an exclusive video interview at RECon 2013 in Las Vegas.

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Joe Cosenza, vice chairman of Oak Brook, Ill.-based The Inland Real Estate Group, sat down with Chain Store Age senior editor Katherine Boccaccio for an exclusive video interview at RECon 2013 in Las Vegas.

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Joseph Coradino, CEO of Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), sat down with Chain Store Age senior editor Katherine Boccaccio for an exclusive video interview at RECon 2013 in Las Vegas.

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Virginia Beach, Va. -- Divaris Real Estate has arranged five retail leases for space in Chesapeake, Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

Dallas -- Alliance Data Systems Corp. said it has signed a long-term renewal and expansion agreement to continue providing private label credit card services for Orchard Brands, a multichannel retailer of apparel and home products including the Blair, Haband, Old Pueblo Traders and Bedford Fair banners.

Washington, D.C. -- Retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are increasingly using technology to better connect with customers and drive profits, according to a new study from the Grocery Manufacturers Association and PwC US.

Results of “Growth Strategies: Unlocking the Power of the Consumer” indicate that despite generally slowing retail net sales growth in 2012, food, beverage and household products companies experienced positive net sales growth of 7%t, 5.5% and 3.2%, respectively.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company will start including calorie information on menu boards in all U.S.-based corporate and licensed stores on June 25. The retailer will post calorie counts to accompany each beverage listed on the menu boards, as well as on tags to accompany food in the bakery case. All calorie counts will reflect the item as made by standard recipe and will not include potential extra calories resulting from whipped cream, different types of milk or sweetener, or other customer options.

Oklahoma City -- The vast majority (91.4%) of American consumers plan to give up to three retail gift cards as gifts over the next three months, according to survey results released Tuesday by the Retail Gift Card Association.

However, the survey also found that consumers will continue to keep their wallets tight - only 30.6% of respondents would purchase something they would not normally buy. The rest, 69.4%, said they would spend the gift card on something they needed, or put it toward a larger purchase.

New York -- Nine owners and managers of 7-Eleven stores across Long Island (New York) and in Virginia were charged on Monday of harboring and hiring dozens of illegal immigrants and paying them using sham Social Security numbers.

Dallas -- Cypress Equities Real Estate Investment Management has announced the acquisition of Lloyd Center in Portland, Ore. The enclosed, three-level 1,478,000-sq.-ft. regional shopping center is located near downtown close to the Convention Center, Rose Garden Arena and Memorial Coliseum.

New York – Improvements in real home prices, initial unemployment claims and real wages drove an increase in the Deloitte Consumer Spending Index last month. The Index, which comprises four components of tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices, rose slightly in May to 4.27 from a reading of 4.12 the previous month.

New York -- Despite continuing economic uncertainty, new data from KPMG indicates retailers are ready to invest capital to spur growth this year. The 2013 KPMG Retail Outlook Survey shows that 85% of retail executives expect capital spending will increase or remain the same during the next year. When asked where they will increase spending most, executives most frequently cited geographic expansion (61%), IT (40% and advertising and marketing/branding (24%).