Finance & Capital Management

Santa Fe, N.M. -- Fort Worth, Texas-based Trademark Property Co. said that Sports Authority will open a new store at Santa Fe Place mall in Santa Fe, N.M.

The 40,000-sq.-ft. store will open in a vacated Mervyn’s anchor space at the center. Construction is slated to launch in October with opening planned for spring 2013. It will be the second Sports Authority in New Mexico; the other store is located in Albuquerque.

Ridgefield, Conn. -- Victoria’s Secret has selected Schimenti Construction to build its store located in the Quaker Bridge Mall, Lawrenceville, N.J.
 
Construction of the 13,500-sq.-ft. store is scheduled to begin mid-June and is scheduled for completion in October. The architect for the project is Fitch, Scottsdale, Ariz.
 

New York -- Large emerging markets with an active online user base and solid infrastructure offer retailers the greatest e-commerce potential in the near-term, according to a new study by A.T. Kearney’s Global Consumer Institute. The study ranks the 10 countries with the greatest potential for e-commerce growth, and China tops the list, followed by Brazil (#2), Russia (#3), Chile (#4) and Mexico (#5).

The timing of store openings in Mexico and Central America will be delayed by as much as 90 days due to what the company described as “process changes” that will increase the time required to open a store.

Wal-Mart de Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. in an update to its expansion program disclosed to the Mexican Stock Exchange that it contemplated completing its 2012 expansion program 60 to 90 days later than originally planned. As a result new store openings for the current year will now range between 325 and 335 units.

Best Buy has been in the news a lot lately, with the scandal involving former CEO Brian Dunn and subsequent resignation of founder and chairman Richard Shulze on top of a fiscal year that saw the company’s GAAP loss widen to $3.36 cents per share and comparable-store sales slip 1.7%.

Understanding that an image overhaul was needed, Best Buy’s leadership went on the offensive at its annual shareholders’ meeting Thursday, ensuring attendees that the company would once again become the leader in consumer electronics and services.

The timing of store openings in Mexico and Central America will be delayed by as much as 90 days due to what the company described as “process changes” that will increase the time required to open a store.

Wal-Mart de Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. in an update to its expansion program disclosed to the Mexican Stock Exchange that it contemplated completing its 2012 expansion program 60 to 90 days later than originally planned. As a result new store openings for the current year will now range between 325 and 335 units.

Wallingford, Conn. -- Edible Arrangements announced on Friday a strategic partnership with private equity firm Catterton Partners, which includes a capital investment toward expanding the Edible Arrangements brand globally. 

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In addition, Edible Arrangements founder and CEO Tariq Farid said that Catterton Partners brings significant resources in areas from strategy to customer relations to supply chain management, which will accelerate the company's ability to reach new levels of growth.

Irvine, Calif. -- TNP Strategic Retail Trust said Friday it has acquired Bloomingdale Hills, a 13-acre retail center in the Tampa, Fla., suburb of Riverview.

TNP is a public non-traded REIT that invests in grocery and drugstore anchored, multi-tenant necessity retail properties and other real estate-related assets.

Bloomingdale Hills comprises about 78,500 sq. ft. of rentable space, as well as a fully improved, undeveloped land parcel.

The center is anchored by Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market and is 100% leased.
 

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp.’s international executive VP James Murphy said Thursday that the warehouse club operator is pursuing a European expansion program.

Murphy told Bloomberg that Costco is “interested in investing in the obvious four -- Germany, Italy, France and Spain.” The company hasn’t decided which country would debut first and will probably open a store in the region “in the next couple of years,” Murphy said in the Bloomberg interview.

UNION, N.J. — The growth prospects of the nation’s leading home goods retailer is being questioned following a solid first quarter performance and weaker-than-expected outlook.