Development/Redevelopment

McLean, Va. – German discount grocer Lidl continues to lay the foundation for its store debut in the United States.

The company which is establishing a U.S. corporate headquarters, in Arlington County, Virginia, announced it will also open a regional headquarters and distribution center facility in Alamance County, North Carolina. The moves are part of Lidl’s early preparations to expand into the U.S. http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/german-grocer-lidl-prepares-us-expansion-open-headquarters-virginia%3Cbr />

New Rochelle, N.Y. – Welco Realty Inc. has leased 21,500-sq.-ft. of retailer space to Michaels Stores Inc. at The Mill Creek Mall at Harmon Meadow in Secaucus, N.J. Jerry Welkis, a principal of Welco Realty, represented the landlord, Hartz Mountain Industries.
 
The tenant was represented by Jamie Sackeim of The Dartmouth Company.  Other tenants in the center are PetSmart and Marshall’s/Home Goods. Adjacent tenants include Bob’s Furniture, Sports Authority, T.J.Maxx, Toys / Babies R Us, and Kohl’s.
 

Seattle - Starbucks Coffee Co. plans on making a connection with French consumers.

The retailer is partnering with and Casino Restauration, the restaurant subsidiary of mass merchandiser Groupe Casino, to open Starbucks stores within Géant Casino hypermarkets and Casino supermarkets across France.

Target Corp. is set to open its largest CityTarget store ever, and the first on the East Coast, at the end of July.

The Boston Globe reports the store, near Fenway Park in Boston, is the largest of the eight CityTargets the Minneapolis-based retail giant has opened since 2012.

CityTargets range in size from 80,000 square feet in Portland, Oregon to 125,000 square feet in downtown Chicago.

The Modesto, Ca.-based Save Mart chain of 217 supermarkets has embarked on a major rebranding effort in the Bay Area where a new 61,000-sq.-ft. protoype bears a reimagined Lucky California banner.

St. Louis -- Ikea is expanding in the Midwest.

The chain will open a store in St. Louis on Sept. 30. It will be the Swedish company’s first store in Missouri, and 41st in the United States.  

The 380,000-sq.-ft. St. Louis Ikea is being built on 21 acres along Interstate-64 at Vandeventer Avenue. It will house Missouri’s largest rooftop solar array, consistent with the Ikea renewable energy presence at 90% of its U.S. locations.

Dallas - Corner Bakery Cafe has found another route to help it reach its goal of doubling its national footprint in the next two years.

The company, which operates more than 185 company-owned and franchised locations around the country, said it plans to expand in the nation's busiest airports. The chain is basing the plans on success of its Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport location in Atlanta.

Warren, Mich. -- At least one retailer is bucking the current smaller store trend by opening its biggest location to date.

Art Van Furniture will open a two-story, 112,000-sq.-ft. store showroom in Downers Grove, Ill., on July 30. It will not only be the largest Art Van Furniture store among the company's 90 Midwest locations, but also and the largest furniture store in Chicagoland.

York, Pa. - The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. is selling six stores for $84 million to CPA: 17 – Global, a non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) of global net lease REIT W.P. Carey Inc. Bon-Ton will lease the stores back.

Proceeds from the transaction will be used to pay one of two of the company’s mortgage loans due in April 2016. Each loan has about $105 million in principal and consists of 12 properties. Bon-Ton is actively pursuing refinancing options for the second loan.

With many retailers such as Walmart and Target focused on opening smaller stores, Midwest supermarket operator Roundy’s is thinking big in Chicago with its newest Mariano’s location.