Real Estate

Denver -- National Grocers by Vitamin Cottage said Tuesday that its first Arizona store – in Flagstaff – has opened, and will be joined by two additional stores located in Sedona and Prescott.

The privately owned regional grocery chain, which operates 56 stores in 12 states, incorporated environmentally friendly elements into the Flagstaff store. Energy-efficient features include motion light sensors, 100% post-consumer content tiles, polished concrete flooring and commercial-grade LED lights.  And the chain is 100% shopping bag free.

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys"R"Us continues on its path to bring its Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us stores under one roof as part of its integrated store strategy. The company announced that by the end of the year it will have opened eight new stores and transformed 13 existing locations to the side-by-side model in 2012. In adding eight new stores and renovating 13 existing locations, the company will create more than 400 new jobs across the country.

Hong Kong -- A Tuesday report by Bloomberg said that J. Crew will open its first Asia store – in Hong Kong – as early as 2013. CEO Millard “Mickey” Drexler told the news service that the retailer is also seeking sites in Beijing and Shanghai.

“We feel that we’re ready to go international,” said Drexler. “Going international is a strong learning curve and it could distract us from building our business in the United States, but we feel that the time is right now.”

SUNBURY, Pa. — Weis Markets reported that it's net income increased 12.7% to $23.2 million in net income while its earnings per share increased 11.7% to 86 cents per share, compared with 77 cents per share for the same period in 2011. Second quarter operating income increased 11.4% to $35.3 million.

Second quarter sales increased 0.1% to $677.1 million while comparable-store sales increased 0.4%.

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us on Tuesday said that by the end of 2012 it will have opened eight new stores and remodeled 13 existing locations to the side-by-side Toys “R” Us/Babies “R” Us model.

The retailer said the 21 stores across 13 states are representative of its strategy to bring both concepts together in an integrated store format.

El Paso, Texas -- Best Buy Co. has signed a lease to open a 37,740-sq.-ft. store at The Fountains at Farah, a new power-lifestyle shopping center located in El Paso, Texas.

The shopping center, a Centergy Retail project, is under construction and planned to open in 600,000 sq. ft. in fall 2013.
 

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe’s Cos. on Tuesday confirmed a July 8 proposal to acquire Canadian home-improvement and hardware retailer Rona, but said the Quebec-based chain rejected the $1.9 billion offer.

According to the 800-store Rona, the sale to Lowe’s would not be in its best interests.

"Rona's strategic focus remains to execute on its business plan with a view to capturing the significant opportunities that it sees for the business," Rona said in a statement.

Safeway has opened the first LEED for Retail certified store in the state of Montana, in the town of Bozeman. The $12 million, 58,000-sq.-ft. store is one of approximately just 200 LEED certified grocery stores in the United States.