Events

With company representatives, Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, local officials and community leaders on hand, Ikea officially broke ground for its future St. Louis store scheduled to open fall 2015.

The 380,000-sq.-ft. location with 1,300 parking spaces will be built along the northern side of Interstate-64 and Vandeventer Ave. on nearly 21 acres in the City’s Cortex Innovation District. The company has contracted with St. Louis-based S. M. Wilson & Co. to construct the project.

The Barnes & Noble board has given the company the green light to separate its retail and Nook Media businesses to optimize shareholder value.

The company anticipates completing the separation of the businesses into two separate public companies by the end of the first quarter next year.

With buzz phrases like “omnichannel” and “customer disruption” dominating the retail conversation, landlords and tenants attending RECon 2014 in Las Vegas last May made it their mission to ensure that brick-and-mortar remains relevant. ­

Walgreens has opened a new two-story, flagship drugstore in the north tower of Chicago’s iconic Wrigley Building.

Assisted by 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, representatives from the Magnificent Mile Association, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and others, Walgreens executives marked the 27,800-sq.-ft. store’s opening with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.

Youngstown, Ohio — Chipotle Mexican Grill will debut at the Ohio Valley Mall in St. Clairsville, Ohio, in November. It will be the first Chipotle in the Ohio Valley region. The restaurant’s 2,195-sq.-ft. space is in a building currently undergoing renovation. Two other new merchants, to be announced in the near future, will join Chipotle in the building.

Cafaro affiliated companies own and manage the recently renovated Ohio Valley Mall.

Manhattan Associates Momentum 2014

“We will have real-time temperature monitoring by the end of the year. Imagine what that means.”

— Tony Thompson, president and COO, Papa John’s International Inc.

“It’s hard to talk to anyone at Amazon. Everything has to be automated through their site.

Toronto - Slate Retail REIT has entered into a binding agreement to purchase North Summit Square, a 99% occupied, 224,530-sq.-ft. grocery-anchored shopping center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for $15.8 million. The property is anchored by Sam's Club.

"We are very excited to announce our first acquisition since listing on the TSX," said Blair Welch, CEO of Slate Retail. "We see several further opportunities to make accretive acquisitions of grocery-anchored centers in attractive markets."

Morton Salt has invested $1 million in a state-of-the art food lab at its research and development center in Elgin, Illinois, to support the food industry’s growing desire to reduce sodium levels in comestibles.  

By creating a dedicated food lab at its R&D center, Morton Salt is adding new equipment and 1,300 sq. ft. of space for its team of food scientists and technical staff. Morton also plans to focus on new product development, enhanced formulations, application testing and technical support.