Zakim view showcased in Causeway condo unit

This updated condo on the 10th floor of Strada 234 on Causeway Street has a large outdoor terrace whose view of the Zakim Bridge will be maintained when a Lovejoy Wharf condo complex goes up in front of it.

Unit 1003, which has been completely updated within the past few years, is on one of the six stories added in 2004 to the former 1899-built Stop & Shop bakery whose top six floors hold 108 condos. The 12-story building at 234 Causeway St. is on the fringes of the North End near the Charlestown Bridge.

The center portion of the proposed Lovejoy Wharf condo complex will top out just below Unit 1003's 700-square-foot private terrace. But its side view of the TD Garden will be blocked by Lovejoy's 14-story end tower.

The 1,306-square-foot two bedroom unit has been completely updated in the past three years, with oak and cherrywood floors and crown molding, a kitchen with granite counters, glass mosaic backsplash and high-end appliances as well as two bathrooms redone in marble. It's on the market for $1,175,000.

Strada has a gray marble dedicated lobby and a second entrance it shares with commercial tenants that has a 24/7 concierge.

Unit 1003 is off a carpeted common hallway and opens into an oak foyer, with a large pantry closet to the left.

Straight ahead is the open kitchen/living/dining area with oak floors. The recessed-lit living room area features an electric fireplace with a stone mantel on one side and a custom-built oak cabinet built-in on the other. There's a wall of glass, including doors out to a large private terrace renovated three years ago with custom flower boxes and a water fountain that looks directly out at the Zakim Bridge.

Pendant lights were added over the dining area adjacent to a kitchen redone in 2010 with 20 custom cherrywood cabinets, brown granite counters and glass mosaic tile backsplash. A Fisher & Paykel dishwasher was added this year. The other stainless-steel appliances are also high-end, and include a large Jenn-Air refrigerator and a Viking electric stove.

Off the living room is an oak hallway with a closet holding a Bosch stacked washer and dryer added three years ago.

Straight ahead is the master bedroom suite, redone in 2010 with cherrywood floors, crown molding and custom blinds and shades. The bedroom is good-sized with floor-to-ceiling glass windows that look out onto Lovejoy's renovated headquarters for Converse. There's a walk-in closet with built-in shelving. The en-suite master bathroom was totally renovated and enlarged in 2010, and is furnished with white Carrara marble, including floors, a vanity top and a glass-enclosed steam shower with a marble bench.

The second bedroom, currently a home office, also has cherrywood floors and crown molding added three years ago. There's floor-to-ceiling windows and a closet with built-in shelving.

Across the hall, a second full bathroom was also gut renovated and enlarged in 2010 with Crema Marfil floor tile with inlay. There's also a wood vanity with a vessel sink.

The unit comes with one deeded garage parking space under the building with valet service. And there's also a large storage cage for the unit in the basement.

The condo fee includes heat and hot water in an all-electric building, with central air in the unit. Other amenities include a fitness room.

Broker: Jesse MacDonald and Stephen Tucker of Hammond Residential; 
617-337-9000

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Monday the deals shift to the Web

Black Friday shoppers have collapsed on their couches and finally gotten a chance to digest that turkey after a hectic day of deal-hunting, but it all starts again Monday on the Internet.

"Online shopping has been very, very strong," said Chris Christopher, a retail analyst with IHS Global Insight. "Right now, a little over $1 of every $20 spent is spent online."

Online shopping is the only retail sector growing at a double- digit pace, with online sales expected to generate $78 billion this holiday season, a
15 percent increase over last year.

Still, Christopher said, Cyber Monday may have lost some of its exclusivity this year because online retailers such as Amazon have been offering deals to compete with brick-and-mortar stores opening on Thanksgiving.

"A lot of them had to up their game because they didn't have the luxury of people staying at home," he said.

Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said online retailers can take a chunk out of local sales, but the Internet also opens up possibilities for small stores.

"There's a lot of smaller companies that are finding it as a growth opportunity," he said.

Jasmine Raines, a 24-year-old Dorchester resident, hit Legacy Place in Dedham on Black Friday, planned on shopping again today, and then finish off her spree with some online shopping. "Then I'll wait for Cyber Monday," she said.

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Stores eye green in black

Retailers are hoping to capitalize on the Black Friday frenzy and defy analysts' predictions of a lackluster holiday shopping season, despite fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.

Stores were buzzing yesterday as shoppers hunted for deals, and some retailers were offering aggressive discounts.

"It looked like a very promising Black Friday," said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. "I think the season's off to a good start."

Retailers will release official numbers beginning today, but analysts were forecasting only modest gains over last year's Black Friday sales.

"For some chain stores, this is make or break," said Chris Christopher, a retail analyst with Lexington-based IHS Global Insight.

IHS is expecting the weakest holiday season growth — 3.2 percent — since 2009. The National Retail Federation has pegged growth at 3.9 percent, while the Bay State retailers' group is predicting 3.5 percent.

And a calendar quirk also could hurt retailers — a late Thanksgiving means six fewer shopping days before Christmas.

"We're expecting store business to be down 10 percent, but we're expecting sales to be up 2.4 percent," said Bill Martin, founder of shoppertrak, thanks to online sales.

He said Black Friday and the remainder of this weekend will likely be a larger portion of the total holiday sales than usual because of the shorter time frame.

"The calendar's challenging," said Hurst.

Those timing difficulties are on top of shaky consumer confidence, largely due to the government shutdown in October.

Fourth-quarter same-store sales — a key benchmark because they measure sales at stores open at least a year — are forecast to climb a "lackluster" 1.1 percent, according to Swampscott-based Retail Metrics' SSS Index, and 1.5 percent when Walmart is factored in.

Still, Martin said yesterday was expected to be the largest shopping day for the 10th straight year, with a cool $10 billion in sales.

Many shoppers had no trouble finding what they were looking for.

Somerville resident Margot Hanson came to Legacy Place specifically to take advantage of the 50 percent off sale at the Loft.

"Then we impulse-bought at three other stores," she said.

Alex and Gabrielle Jean-Jacques of Hyde Park visited the Walpole Walmart twice yesterday — once early in the morning to watch the Black Friday crowds and again in the afternoon for shopping. "We figured there might have been deals left over," Gabrielle said. "Surprisingly, there was a lot on the shelves. I thought it would be wiped out."

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Small Business Saturday puts focus on independent retailers

Mom-and-pop stores today are gearing up for a Small Business Saturday that they hope will top the bustle of Black Friday.

"(Today) for us is usually bigger — by double," said Philip Celeste, owner of On Centre, a specialty gift and accessory store in Jamaica Plain. "We're expecting to have a very good holiday season. Looking at November, we're already way ahead of last year."

On Centre opted not to have a sale yesterday or today, instead relying on their unique products and the know-you-by-name customer service that most big box stores and online retailers simply can't provide.

Down the street, at Boing! Toy Shop, Kim Mitchell and her staff gift wrap every purchase for free and have a loyalty program to reward frequent customers. "I'm also here, and I'm active, and if people have a question or a complaint, they know who I am," she said.

Still, many small business owners are acutely aware that their competition increasingly is not only big box stores but the Internet. So at Fire Opal in Coolidge Corner, Sue Stein has heightened her Web presence and advertises on social media. Stein also has the benefit of being located in a neighborhood that has a strong shop-local ethic.

"People should keep in mind that more than half of the money they spend in a small business stays in their town," said Jack Mozloom, a spokesman for the National Federation of Independent Business. "You're helping your neighbors, you're helping to create jobs in your community."

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Nonstop flights connect Boston, China

The first nonstop air service between Boston and Beijing will be announced next week, the Herald has learned — and it promises to dramatically boost business between a leading world technology and research zone here in the Hub and China's massive emerging market.

Massport, after years of pushing for the globe-shrinking flights, is due to announce next week that China's Hainan Airlines will launch nonstop service in June, initially four times per week, according to sources briefed on the plans. The airline filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation on Nov. 12 that's expected to be approved early next week, the sources told the Herald.

"China is a huge market opportunity," said Christopher Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council. "This is obviously very welcome. It not only helps our economy gain easier access to another market — direct service to anywhere opens up access for that location to our innovation assets."

While Anderson acknowledged that U.S. business has ongoing intellectual property protection concerns in China — the world's second largest economy — he cited huge opportunities for Massachusetts-developed technologies unrelated to security concerns, including health care and energy.

"China is increasing energy consumption as their economy expands rapidly, and as they (do), they also need to increase their energy generation capa­city," Anderson said. "They have a focus on clean energy technologies. A number of those technologies are served by innovations that are located here."

Boston-Beijing flights also will be a boon for New England tourism. Chinese visitors to Boston were second only to those from the United Kingdom last year, and they've jumped 287 percent to 147,000 annually since 2008. Those numbers could as much as double in the next five years once nonstop service is added, said Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau chief Pat Moscaritolo.

"It's going to mean hundreds of millions of dollars in new visitor spending for Boston, Massachusetts and New England," Moscaritolo said.

Retail is among the sectors that will benefit most significantly, said Moscaritolo, who also expects to see new tourism-­related businesses catering to Chinese visitors.

Massport wouldn't confirm the pending announcement yesterday.

"We talk to airlines all the time," spokesman Richard Walsh said. "When and if there's an announcement, we'll make it."

The DOT did not return Herald calls, and Joel Chusid, Hainan's U.S. executive director, said he "can't confirm anything yet."

By August, the 20-year-old Hainan Airlines plans to average 30 to 31 flights between Boston and Beijing per month, and carry 5,200 to 6,200 passengers on Boeing 787s, according to its DOT application. It launched its first nonstop U.S. service to Beijing from Seattle in 2008 and started Chicago flights on Sept. 3.

"We have a very kind of upscale business class," Chusid said, noting the airline offers flat-bed seats and amenities such as pajamas and slippers in first class. In economy class, Hainan "doesn't charge for all the extras that other guys do," he said.

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World of differences

With Hainan Airlines due to connect Boston and Beijing as never before, the Freedom Trail and the Great Wall of China — as well as Kendall Square and China's factories — have never been closer. Here's a look at the soon-to-be linked economic and cultural powerhouses:

• Distance: Boston and Beijing are 6740 miles apart.

• Time Difference: The sun comes up 13 hours earlier there.

• Latitude: Boston, 42 degrees; Beijing 39.9 degrees

• Population: Boston, 636,479; Beijing- 20,693,000

• Founded: Boston, 1630 A.D. Beijing, as the city of Ji, 1045 B.C.

• Known for: Boston — the Boston Tea Party, the American Revolution, the Big Dig, two centuries of American literature, leading educational institutions, top-notch medical research and high tech innovation; Beijing — several millenia of Chinese art and literature, the Boxer rebellion, the Cultural revolution, booming financial and hi-tech manufacturing industries

• Attractions: Boston — The Freedom Trail, Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, Fenway Park, Swan Boats, the Old North Church, the Museum of Fine Arts, autumn foliage; Beijing — Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Ming tombs

• Weather: Boston — hot, rainy, humid summers, cold, snowy winters; Beijing — dry and humid summers, cold and windy winters, dust storms

• Delicacies: Boston — clam chowder, lobster, North End cuisine. Beijing — Peking Duck, noodles, hot and sour soup

• Sports: Boston — Three World Series, three Superbowls, one NBA title and one Stanley cup in the last decade. Beijing — 2008 Summer Olympics, several professional soccer and basketball teams.

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Safety first for Black Friday frenzy

Massachusetts stores will be beefing up security, staggering lines and handing out first-come, first-served tickets for hot Black Friday sale items to avoid the kind of stampede that killed a Wal-Mart employee five years ago in New York.

"The busy shopping season should not put retail workers at risk of being injured or killed," said David Michaels, the nation's assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health.

In response to letters the Occupational Safety and Health Administration sent out last week, many retailers plan to follow OSHA guidelines, including having trained security or police on hand, placing barricades away from the front of the store's entrance and not allowing more customers to enter once the store reaches its maximum occupancy.

"We continually look for ways to raise the bar on safety for our customers and our employees; their safety is and always has been our highest priority," said Alyssa Peera, a spokeswoman for Toys "R" Us, whose seven Bay State stores will be opening at 1 a.m. "Each year, we evaluate and strengthen our crowd control policies, procedures and store operations right up to Black Friday."

Senior members of the chain's store management teams, including security, will be monitoring crowds waiting outside to identify potential problems before they happen, Peera said.

The chain has tried to ensure it has enough inventory of the most popular toys, she said, But in cases where the demand exceeds the supply, staff will issue tickets to customers for the product on a first-come, first-served basis.

Wal-Mart, whose 47 Massachusetts stores will open on Friday at 1 a.m., will allow customers to line up to get wristbands reserving the item they want, then leave the line to do the rest of their shopping and pick up the item within a two-four period before they leave the store, said Alex Serra, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman.

Best Buy, which will be opening at 1 a.m., also will be giving out tickets reserving items for people in line, as well as distributing store maps so that people will know in advance where to find them, said John Garrasi, who manages the chain's Watertown store.

Wrentham police will have as many as 46 officers working "midnight madness" at Wrentham Village Premium Outlets and a dedicated frequency they'll be able to communicate over, Chief James Anderson said.

There also will be message boards posted on Interstate 495 and Route 1A, telling motorists how much of a wait they can expect to reach the mall.

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Casino gambles on Revere

Mohegan Sun and its New York-based investor would be the sole owners of a $1 billion Revere casino — not Suffolk Downs — under a new eleventh-hour agreement finalized just days before the two sides could learn whether they're legally free to build a gaming palace just over the East Boston line.

The deal, announced yesterday after a week of whirlwind negotiations, could breathe new life into two battered gaming partners, whose prospects appeared dead just weeks ago after voters in Palmer spiked a Mohegan Sun proposal and Eastie voters shot down Suffolk Downs' pitch.

But in a major shift from Suffolk Downs' last gaming agreement, the struggling racetrack would lease 42 of its 52 acres of land in Revere to Mohegan Sun and $15 billion-backer Brigade Capital Management, which together would own the casino.

Caesars Entertainment, the track's first partner, bounced amid questions over debt and purported mob ties, would have held just a 4.2 percent stake in the original proposal as the developer and operator.

Mohegan Sun has already passed its Gaming Commission background check.

"It's more akin to our agreement with Palmer," said Mitchell Etess, CEO of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, referring to the 99-year lease Mohegan Sun had signed to build in the western Massachusetts town, though he declined to detail the Revere terms.

"I think in this case, given the extremely short time frame we needed to get this done, this probably was more executable if our existing arrangements with Brigade and the structure were maintained," Etess said. But he disputed the notion that Suffolk Downs would be simply a "landlord."

"We're really partnering with them," he said.

A Suffolk Downs spokesman declined to comment, referring comment on the deal's structure to Mohegan Sun.

It remains uncertain whether the new partners will be allowed to compete with Wynn Resorts and Everett for the eastern region casino license.

The Gaming Commission is due to meet Tuesday, when its legal team will brief members on whether Suffolk Downs can legally operate a Revere-only casino without another referendum vote. When Revere voters approved a casino on Nov. 5, it was part of the city-line-crossing plan that East Boston rejected.

Celeste Myers of No Eastie Casino, an East Boston-based group that is considering suing to stop the Revere-only deal, immediately blasted Mohegan Sun for "shopping wherever they can."

Mohegan Sun, Myers noted, has faced layoffs of more than 300 workers last year, the refinancing of $715 million in debt and a two-thirds plunge in its fourth-quarter profits just this month.

"They have had all kinds of financial issues," she said. "And now they're joining in the last-ditch cash grab in the commonwealth."

But Etess countered that Mohegan Sun's refinancing will save $16 million in interest costs a year. He touted Brigade's backing "as the strongest platform of any participant in the entire process."

Revere Mayor Dan Rizzo said, "I think it would be unrealistic to think because Mohegan Sun fell on some hard times, that should be indicative of any casino never being built (by them) again."

And Rizzo added, "We can definitely use the jobs."

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Stores ‘discounting like it’s 2009’ on Black Friday

Shoppers venturing out the day after Thanksgiving can expect the biggest Black Friday promotions since at least 2009.

They won't see the fire sales of 2008 — when 75-percent-off tags were all over the mall amid the fallout of the Great Recession — but retailers already are discounting like its 2009, when the economy still was touch-and-go, according to Ken Perkins, analyst at Swampscott-based Retail Metrics Inc.

"Our sense is they're going to continue to keep the deals flowing all the way up through the new year, primarily because the spending pie has not been growing outside of the upper income bracket," he said.

Retailers selling electronics at deep discounts stand to win.

"TVs, gadgets and smart phones are still going to be the primary lever — particularly for big box retailers — to get people into the stores," Perkins said.

Somerville consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky, who runs the ConsumerWorld.org website, already has hunted down what he considers to be the better "door-busters": a 55-inch LG HDTV for $499.99 at Best Buy; a 25-cubic-foot Whirlpool stainless refrigerator for $999.99 at Lowe's, Sears, Best Buy and Home Depot; and a Samsung Galaxy S4 smart phone for 99 cents or less at Best Buy, Staples and Sam's.

"Some of the stores have 64-page ads this coming Thursday," Dworsky said. "They're not all wonderful deals, you have to do your homework."

He believes consumers are feeling some degree of Black Friday "burnout."

"Retailers ... are ruining their own big shopping day by making it earlier and earlier," he said. "It gets watered down. Pretty soon, we're going to be celebrating Black Friday in August."

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John Henry tossing Worcester paper

A Springfield media mogul and losing bidder for the Boston Globe says he won't buy the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, but John J. Gormally Jr. predicts there will be plenty of local players interested, including media chain GateHouse Media.

"If I were to buy a newspaper, it would be my local newspaper," said Gormally, owner of two Springfield television stations and BusinessWest Magazine, who bid on the New England Media Group in competition with John Henry.

Henry, who bought the Boston Globe and the Telegram and their websites a month ago for $70 million, told his Worcester staffers yesterday he was putting their paper on the block.

"My preference is to a local owner," Henry told the staff, according to the Telegram & Gazette.

Gormally said, "Strategically, GateHouse is probably the leading candidate." GateHouse Media, owns more than 300 daily and weekly newspapers, including the Patriot Ledger and the Brockton Enterprise, and recently acquired the Dow Jones Media Group, which includes the Cape Cod Times and the New Bedford Standard Times.

The Fletcher family, long-rooted in Worcester, could be good candidates to buy the paper, Gormally said. Another possible bidder could be Ralph D. Crowley Jr., CEO of Polar Beverages, who tried to buy the paper in 2009. City Manager Michael O'Brien has said the local business community might be interested in mounting a bid.

The fate of the newspaper — in a time when many are struggling and staffs are being cut — won't be clear until potential bidders express interest, industry insiders and analysts said.

"I wouldn't say that's necessarily a bad thing for the Telegram & Gazette," said Tom Fiedler, dean of the College of Communications at Boston University. "Depending obviously on whether responsible local ownership steps forward."

John Hill, president of the Rhode Island Newspaper Guild — which includes staff at the Telegram & Gazette, said, "We'll see who he sells it to. Then we'll know if it's a good or a bad thing."

Analysts and industry insiders said local bidders most likely to draw Henry's eye would be those that see the paper as a civic investment rather than a financial venture.

"If he can find a good local buyer who for a relatively small amount of money could take on a good civic responsibility, that's a good thing," said Joshua Benton, director of the Neiman Journalism Lab at Harvard University.

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The Ticker

U.S. residential building permits top a million

Permits for future U.S. home construction rose to their highest in nearly 5-1⁄2 years in October and prices for single-family homes notched big gains in September, suggesting a run-up in mortgage interest rates has not derailed the housing recovery.

Building permits jumped 6.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units, the highest since June 2008 and beating economists' expectations for a 930,000-unit rate.

The data released yesterday were the latest signs of strength in the economy, despite headwinds from last month's budget fight, which led to a partial government shutdown, and rising mortgage rates.

Nasdaq closes above 4,000

The Nasdaq composite index closed above 4,000 yesterday for the first time since 2000, while the Dow and S&P ended barely changed.

Retailers and home builders were among the best performing sectors, responding to stronger-than-expected earnings and robust housing market data.

Big-cap technology stocks helped the Nasdaq to finish above 4,000 for the first time since the dot-com bubble burst in 2000.

Consumer confidence at 7-month low

Confidence among U.S. consumers unexpectedly declined in November to a seven-month low as Americans grew more pessimistic about the labor-market outlook.

The Conference Board's index fell to 70.4 from a revised 72.4 a month earlier that was stronger than initially estimated, the New York-based private research group said yesterday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 78 economists called for a November reading of 72.6.

Today

 Commerce Department releases durable goods for October.

 Commerce Department releases personal income and spending for October.

 Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims.

 Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates.

 Acentech Inc., a multi-disciplinary acoustics, audiovisual systems design, and vibration consulting firm, announced that Colleen Anderson, left, has been promoted to the role of marketing coordinator. In her new position, she will be responsible for supporting Acentech's marketing, communications, and proposal preparation activities for the firm.

 Agrivida, Inc., a biotechnology company, announced the appointment of Dan Meagher as chief executive officer. Meagher joins Agrivida from Novus International.

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World stocks post gains ahead of US holiday

MANILA, Philippines — World stock markets eked out modest gains Wednesday as Wall Street looked set to add to a string of milestones ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Nasdaq composite closed above 4,000 for the first time in 13 years Tuesday. That followed two other round-number moments last week. The Standard & Poor's 500 closed above 1,800 for the first time and the Dow Jones industrial average finished above 16,000.

Dow and S&P futures were both up 0.1 percent.

Francis Lun of GE Oriental Financial Group in Hong Kong said some funds from Asia are being invested in the U.S. and Germany, where stock indexes are setting record highs.

"Fund managers are switching money out of Asia into Europe and America," he said. "That's why the Asian markets are underperforming."

In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent at 6,652.22. Germany's DAX climbed 0.2 percent to 9,310.08 and France's CAC-40 rose 0.2 percent to 4,287.73.

Asian markets gained with the exception of Japan, Australia and Singapore.

Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down 0.4 percent at 15,449.63. Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.5 percent to 23,806.35 and China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.8 percent to 2,201.07. South Korea's Kospi was up 0.3 percent at 2,028.81.

Thailand's stock index climbed 0.9 percent after the central bank unexpectedly cut its policy interest rate by a quarter percentage point as escalating protests to topple the government add to pressure on the economy.

In energy markets, benchmark crude for January delivery was down 31 cents at $93.37 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 41 cents to close at $93.68 on Tuesday.

The euro rose to $1.3585 from $1.3567 late Tuesday. The dollar rose to 101.68 yen from 101.30 yen.

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