Finance & Capital Management

Lone Tree, Col. -- Westwood Financial Corp. has sold the 34,749-sq.-ft. Heritage Hills Shopping Center in Lone Tree, Colo., as part of its efforts to strengthen its strategic investment in new Southeastern U.S. markets. The retail property, located at 9227-9231 Lincoln Ave., was in Westwood Financial’s portfolio for 11 years and sold to Carlisle Properties for $11.4 million.

TOPEKA, Kan. — Collective Brands has announced that Richard Markee has been elected to its board of directors, with a term to expire in 2014.

New York City -- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission settled a lawsuit with Target Corp. regarding the rights of a disabled cart attendant in California's Orange County, the Associated Press reported.

Court papers filed on Tuesday reveal that Target agreed to pay former employee Jeremy Schott $160,000 and develop policies to respond to disabled employees' needs, the report said.

New York City -- What topics interested retailers most in the first half of 2011? The most popular stories with chainstoreage.com readers from January through June ran the gamut, from the top 10 retail markets for 2011 to Dollar General’s ambitious expansion. Take a look at our top 10 most popular stories: 
 
1. Top 10 retail markets for 2011

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens’ stock was trading up 30 cents to $43.03 on the New York Stock Exchange mid-morning on Wednesday thanks to favorable same-store sales growth of 4.8% for the month of June versus an analyst consensus estimate of 2.8%.

Everett, Wash. -- Zumiez said its same-store sales increased 9.8% for the five-week period ended July 2.

Total net sales for the period increased 16.8% to $43.5 million, compared with $37.2 million for the five-week period ended July 3, 2010.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens said Wednesday that its sales were up 6.8% in June, as more customers came to its stores and spent more money per trip. Same-store sales rose 4.8%.  Revenue increased to $6.04 billion from $5.65 billion.

Pharmacy revenue rose 6.2% and front-end sales were up 6.4%. The chain said monthly customer traffic rose 1.3% compared to June 2010, and customers spent 3.4% more per trip.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Ross Stores will celebrate on July 16 the opening of its 1,000th Dress for Less store in North Pleasant Hill, Calif. 

Ross Stores' announcement of its 1,000th Dress for Less store follows strong monthly and quarterly sales and earnings, as the company continues to thrive in the down economy.