Development/Redevelopment

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet raised $143 million in a wildly successful initial public stock offering that positions the company for steady expansion of its 181 unit store base beyond core markets.

Ollie’s co-founder and CEO Mark Butler told Retailing Today that although the company has identified 950 suitable store locations, proceeds from the IPO will be used to repay debt and the company will maintain a measured pace of expansion.

Highland Park, Minn. -- Target is going small — really small.

The world’s second smallest Target, a TargetExpress store, is set to open in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, Minn.

The 16,000-sq.-ft. store, which opens July 22, will feature a pharmacy and cater to a community of families, empty nesters and college students, the Grand Forks Herald reports.

A TargetExpress, which comprises only about 16,000 square feet, will open in the St. Paul metro area this month.

Oak Brook, Ill. - Retail Properties of America Inc. (RPAI) is shuffling some executives as part of a strategic realignment of its operating platform geographically between the eastern and western regions of the country. Timothy Steffan, former senior VP, asset management and commercial leasing for Macerich's eastern region, has joined RPAI as divisional president – eastern region.

Scottsdale, Ariz. - Cold Stone Creamery is planning to heat up the ice cream market in the Indian subcontinent. The retailer is entering India and Sri Lanka.

Kahala Brands, the parent company of the Cold Stone Creamery brand, is partnering with Tablez Food Company, part of Lulu Group International LLC, to open 40 stores in India and five stores in Sri Lanka during the next five years. The first store will open by the end of the year at the Lulu Mall in Kochi, India.

Austin, Texas – A flagship Whole Foods market is reportedly coming to a corner location in midtown Atlanta. According to the Atlanta Business Journal, the multi-level, 70,000-sq,-ft. will anchor a 14-story mixed-use development that will also include 390 luxury apartments.

Miami-based The Related Group is developing the project, with Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart serving as architect.
 

New York -- Online beauty subscription retailer Birchbox is plunging deeper into brick-and-mortar retailing — and it is seeking customer input to help guide its decision.

New York -- Starbucks Corp. is expanding its already extensive global footprint.

The chain announced it will open its first stores in South Africa next year in a partnership deal with South African management group Taste Holdings. The initial store is scheduled to open in Johannesburg during the first half of 2016.

QVC is ramping up its distribution network on the West Coast with a new, state of the art facility in Ontario, Calif.

The multichannel retailer plans to open a West Coast distribution hub there in 2016. As QVC ramps up operations, the center is expected to employ more than 500 team members by 2018. QVC anticipates hiring approximately 1,000 team members in total by 2020 as the distribution center expands fulfillment to all product categories.

Doha, Qatar – The world’s largest mall is coming soon. The Mall of Qatar, which will encompass almost 4.2 million-sq.-ft. with 400 shops, a luxury hotel, a family entertainment center, a five-star restaurant and 82 other eating establishments, is slated to open in first quarter 2016.