Superb spring: Expansion, opening and sessions

With Passover and Easter now a memory, in the retail world, we're already gearing up for a major meeting, a conference and more! The luxury wars clearly will heat up in Sept., when Lord & Taylor debuts "The Room," a designer salon clearly intended to compete with Saks and Bergdorf. L&T's Canadian sister store Hudson's Bay also has the concept, which offers ready-to-wear and accessories. The new concept is part of a $75 million flagship makeover, including increasing the size of the shoe department, and increasing the selling space. Even though Lord & Taylor completed an amazing renovation what seems like five minutes ago, these plans are consistent with what other department and fashion stores are doing around the city: Macy's in is the midst of a $400 million overhaul; Barneys has just redone its shoe floor; Bergdorf Goodman has 40 separate projects planned for a renovation (including, yes, expanding its shoe department); and Saks grew its footwear offerings until it required its own zip code! The result will be many more offerings and, we hope, an even more pleasant and productive shopping experience for all! More new retailers will be around to serve them. The flood of entrants from Scandinavia continues with the U.S. debut of Happy Socks at 436 West Broadway and Han Kjøbenhavn at 27 Prince St. Marie-Hélène de Taillac has come to the U.S. with a lovely jewelry salon at 20 East 69th St. Intermix is opening this month at 313 Bowery, if it has not already done so. At press time, Muji's 52 Cooper Sq. location was to open on April 12th, and Warby Parker's first brick-and-mortar shop at 121 Greene St. on April 13th. More eyewear can be found at Anne et Valentin, newly opened at 2 Prince St. Necessary Clothing has found a location off Broadway for its sixth store in Manhattan: 261-263 Canal St. My friends at Racked.com report that Iro's opening at 450 Broome St. is the beginning of a U.S. expansion, which may include stores on Madison Ave., the West Village and near the World Trade Center. The calendar also continues to fill up quickly. Members of NYCREW, CREW CT, CREW NJ and AREW will be gathering at the Vanderbilt Suites at the MetLife Building (200 Park Ave.) on May 16th from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. for "CREW Crosses State Lines for Business and Charity," a dinner, reception and raffle. Proceeds will benefit the CREW Network Foundation, the only foundation dedicated to advancing women in the commercial real estate industry. Members have donated some fabulous prizes including a Carlos Falchi clutch, Jimmy Choo scarf and a certificate to the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salon. Registration is $110, raffle tickets are $10 (three for $25), and you must be a member of NYCREW, CREW CT, CREW NJ or AREW to attend, and I can't think of a better reason to join! For more information, visit www.nycrew.org. Of course, in retail real estate, we're all gearing up for RECon, the ICSC's annual meeting, the largest gathering of our industry in the world. My team and I will join more than 30,000 retailers, developers, brokers and consultants from around the globe, meeting, making deals, and learning about all of the new and wonderful retailers and projects coming up. We're continuing to make very exciting plans for "Retail: The Next Wave," an overview and discussion of some of the latest trends in our industry, from e-tailers testing brick and mortar, to downsizing prototypes to globalization. Already set to join me at the session, being held Sunday, May 19th from 3 - 4:30 p.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center, are Daniella Yacobovsky, co-founder of BaubleBar; James Tenser, a member of the board of RetailWire, and Marianne Wilson, editor-in-chief of Chain Store Age magazine. This is a discussion that definitely is not for women only! ICSC and I will be announcing another panelist or two in coming days. So please check back at http://www.icsc.org/2013RECON/index.php for more information. Enjoy the spring, plan for RECon, and Happy Shopping! Faith Hope Consolo is the chairman, The Retail Group, Douglas Elliman Real Estate, New York, N.Y.