Strategy

Buoyed by impressive fourth quarter sales, Burlington Stores Inc. is accelerating its expansion strategy, with plans to open 25 new stores in 2015 and a long-term goal of 1,000 stores coast-to-coast.

The off-price retailer reported that total revenue for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31 grew 10% to $1.5 billion from $1.34 billion. Same-store sales rose 6.7%.

New Canaan, Conn. - Stadium Capital Management LLC and its affiliates have notified Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. that Stadium Capital will nominate three independent candidates to the board of directors of Big 5 at the 2015 annual meeting, expected to be held in June 2015. The nominees are Dominic P. DeMarco, a managing director and co-chief investment officer of SCM and an existing member of the board; Nicholas Donatiello Jr., a consumer, media and technology strategist; and Michael J.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. – Dollar General Corp. plans to increase employee income by making more working hours available to them, as opposed to raising salaries. Seeing a need to improve its stores in the face of expanded competition from the merging Family Dollar Stores Inc. and Dollar Tree Inc., Dollar General hopes to keep shelves better stocked with more labor hours.

ShopRite is taking its Live Right initiative a step further with a new wellness experience for its customers in-store created in conjunction with Johnson & Johnson.

Pleasanton, Calif. – Safeway Inc. is reportedly selling three shopping center it owns in Hawaii. According to Pacific Business News, Carlsbad, California-based Terramar Retail Centers is paying about $156 million for the centers.

Two of the centers are anchored by a Safeway – the 23-acre Hokulei Village in Lihue on Kauai for $52.25 million, and the 12-acre Lahaina Cannery Shops on Maui for about $60.3 million. Terramar is also paying $43.4 million for the 24.5-acre Target-anchored Puunene Shopping Center on Maui.

Maine-based L.L. Bean Inc. intends to almost triple its store count by 2020, according to a company memo distributed to employees this month.

Seattle – Amazon.com is moving forward in the burgeoning arena of the Internet of Things (IoT), but isn’t making a big deal about it. According to multiple media reports, Amazon has purchased 2lemetry, a Denver-based IoT startup, for an undisclosed sum.

2lemetry provides an enterprise platform that can track and manage Web-connected IoT devices, such as autos and appliances. The company was founded in 2011 and has raised $9 million in venture capital funding since that time.
 

Laval, Canada - Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is purchasing 21 stores, 151 dealer fuel supply agreements and five development properties through its Circle K Stores Inc. subsidiary from Cinco J Inc. The 21 stores and development properties are located in Texas, while the 151 dealer fuel supply agreements are located in the Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.