Real Estate

New York City -- BJ's Wholesale Club announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to be acquired by the private equity firms of Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.8 billion.

BJ's, based in Westborough, Mass., has 190 stores in 15 states. The company said its board unanimously approved the buyout.

Edmonton, Alberta -- Cabela's will open its first store in Canada’s Alberta province on Aug. 4. It is the second Cabela's to open in Canada.

The 70,000-sq.-ft. store will be built in Cabela's trademark style that showcases the best of the outdoors in a spectacular retail environment. The building's exterior will reflect Cabela's traditional store model with log construction, stonework, wood siding and metal roofing.

Tustin, Calif. -- Gold Max of California announced that is on track to open 100 Gold Max stores in Southern California within the next year.

With more than 150 stores, Gold Max operates the United States’ largest chain of stores specializing in buying gold and precious metals from consumers. Gold Max entered the Southern California market in the fall of 2010 and opened eight stores.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Wednesday unveiled plans to establish deeper roots on its home turf with its “Chicago Hometown Investment Initiative,” a plan that will create an estimated 600 new jobs in the city over the next two years and quadruple the number of Walgreens’ food oasis stores.

For the second year in a row, retailers’ expansion plans are on an upward trajectory, according to Chain Store Age’s 2011 Store Construction & Outfitting Survey, an annual survey of retail building activity and development costs. In other findings, the cost of lighting, signage, roofing and other store-outfitting systems decreased compared with last year.

Columbus, Ohio-based Steiner + Associates announced that the city of Hampton, Va. has been awarded the 2011 Donald E. Hunter Excellence in Economic Development Planning Award by the American Planning Association for the Peninsula Town Center. Located in Hampton, Va., the Peninsula Town Center represents the successful redevelopment of an enclosed mall into a vibrant town center, providing approximately 2,400 new jobs and significantly increasing the taxable sales base in the city. The site has been effectively transformed from the Coliseum Mall into a regional destination.

New York City -- Multiple reports on Tuesday said that French retailing giant Carrefour SA has received an offer to merge with Brazil’s Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao.

Brazilian investment fund Gama said in a statement that it proposed a merger between Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer by sales after Wal-Mart Stores, and CBD, a local retailing giant.

New York City -- BRE Retail Holdings, an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI L.P. announced Tuesday that it has acquired the U.S. assets and platform of Centro Properties Group and its managed funds for approximately $9 billion.

The sale includes 585 community and neighborhood shopping centers and related retail assets aggregating 92.1 million sq. ft. in 39 states.