REAL ESTATE

  • Claire's to make retail debuts in Venezuela and Panama

    Chicago -- Claire's Stores Inc. said Tuesday that it has opened its first stores in Venezuela and Panama; the Venezuelan store opened on Oct. 12 in Sambil Paraguna Mall in Punto Fijo and the Panama store opened Oct. 27 at Metro Mall.

    Claire's has partnered with locally headquartered Grupo David Enterprises as the single franchisee across 16 countries in Latin America. Over time, Claire's said it expects these countries to present a minimum 100 stores market opportunity.

     

  • LaVida Massage to open 13 centers before year’s end

    Commerce, Mich. -- Health and wellness retailer LaVida Massage said Tuesday it will have opened at least 13 new franchised units before the end of 2012. Another eight are slated to open in early 2013.

    LaVida currently operates 45 centers nationwide. 

    Our rapid expansion continues to yield strong results for LaVida, despite a struggling economy,” said Evan Kaltschmidt, COO.

    The new centers are located in California, Georgia, Illinois (2), Michigan (3), New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

  • Sam’s Club opens at River Chase

    Covington, La. -- Stirling Properties announced that Sam’s Club has opened at its River Chase shopping center, the largest open-air retail center in St. Tammany Parish.

    The 136,000-sq.-ft. Sam’s Club features a fuel station and pharmacy, and joins anchors Target, Belk and J.C. Penney at the master-planned, mixed-use development.

     

  • Holt Renfrew launches Canadian discount chain

    Toronto -- Canadian luxury fashion retailer Holt Renfrew & Co. said Monday it will launch a new discount chain called hr2, with a first store in March in Quebec, followed by planned locations across the country by 2015.

    It said the stores will range in size from 25,000 sq. ft. to 35,000 sq. ft., smaller than Holt Renfrew’s nine department stores, and targeting women age 25 and up.

  • GameStop launches new holiday store concept

    Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop Corp. announced Friday it has unveiled a new store concept called GameStop Kids and will open 80 holiday stores in U.S. malls.

    GameStop Kids stores will feature an assortment of the most popular video games and accessories, toy brands and collectibles, showcased in temporary mall spaces.

    The first GameStop Kids location opened Friday at the Grapevine Mills Mall in Grapevine, Texas, with all other locations opening in the coming days and weeks, according to the company.

  • Whole Foods to buy six leases from Massachusetts family-owned grocery chain

    Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market said Friday it will acquire six leases from Johnnie's Foodmaster, a family-owned grocery chain based in Chelsea, Mass. The transaction is expected to close Nov. 30.

    Johnnie's Foodmaster will close all six locations prior to the closing date, but Whole Foods said it has guaranteed interviews to all Johnnie's Foodmaster employees at the six acquired locations with the goal of hiring as many as possible.

  • Wal-Mart slows China store openings to 100 over three years

    Beijing -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday that it plans to open 100 stores in China by 2015, a slowed pace from prior growth rates in the country but still representing ongoing interest in boosting its market share behind the country’s No. 1 player Sun Art Retail Group.

  • Englewood Construction announces two retail projects

    Chicago -- Englewood Construction has announced that its Retail Group has began an extensive, 31,621-sq.-ft. interior build out for Ross Dress for Less at the Ford City Mall, a 47-year-old mall in Chicago’s West Lawn neighborhood.

    The work will consist of a reconfiguration of the mall’s floor plans, structure and roof. Englewood will be combining three current spaces into one large floor plate for Ross Dress for Less. Chicago-based Chadha & Associates will serve as the architect on the project.
     

  • Stein Mart opening seven stores

    Jacksonville, Fla. -- Stein Mart is expanding with the opening of seven stores this fall. The new stores are located in Surprise, Ariz.; Katy, Texas; Tucson, Ariz.; and Charlottesville, Va. The McAllen, Texas; Biloxi, Miss.; and San Dimas, Calif., stores are a relocation of another area store to improve sites.

    The four new and three relocated stores bring Stein Mart's total store count to 263 at the end of this year.

  • West Elm to open South Coast Plaza store

    Brooklyn, N.Y. -- West Elm, a division of Williams-Sonoma, announced that it will open a store in South Coast Plaza on Nov. 2.

    The store will feature a three-sided living wall and will be the first West Elm to open with the company’s newly announced West Elm Market shop-in-shop. Through a partnership with Etsy, it will also feature a collection of decorative accessories and art made by artists from the Orange County area.

     

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