Real Estate

Okay, stop snickering. Target this week revealed that the name of its new small format stores would be CityTarget. The company offered that nugget in connection with news that it would open a small-format store in downtown Chicago at the Sullivan Center development located in the heart of downtown at South State Street and Madison.

New York City -- J. Crew Group said Wednesday that it did not receive any alternative takeover bids during an 85-day "go shop" period, in which the company sought alternatives to an offer from its former owner.

J. Crew agreed in November to be taken private in a $3 billion deal with two investment firms, TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners. It originally had until Jan. 15 to vet other prospects, and that period was extended by a month.

Walmart and Target are being blamed for driving shares of Canadian retailers to their lowest level in six years, according to a Bloomberg report this week. Bloomberg said the ratio between the S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange Retailing Index and its counterpart in the Standard & Poor’s 500 narrowed to 4% on Feb. 11, the smallest in six years. The retailing index has retreated 2.3% this year, while a separate index of companies that sell food and basic necessities has lost 1.1%, the biggest declines among 24 industries in the S&P/TSX. 

NEW YORK -- Borders Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday. The troubled bookseller plans to close 30%, or about 200, of its most underperforming stores during the next few weeks. The long-expected filing will allow Borders to access new capital and reorganize its operations, Borders Group president Mike Edwards said in a statement.

Phoenix -- Private equity firm Apollo Management will acquire majority ownership in Phoenix-based Sprouts Farmers Market. Apollo plans to combine Sprouts operations with another of its holdings, Henry's Farmers Market, based in Irvine, Calif. The combined company will operate under the Sprouts Farmers Market name.

Terms of the deal, expected to close in the second quarter of this year, were not disclosed. The combined grocers will have 98 stores and generate annual sales that exceed $1 billion.

Middletown, N.J. -- Fameco Real Estate, L.P. said that Bone Fish Grill and Hand & Stone Massage have signed leases at the Chapel Hill Shopping Center, in Middletown, N.J.

Chapel Hill Shopping Center is a 64,507-sq.-ft. community shopping that was renovated four years ago and is anchored by a 45,000-sq.-ft. Whole Foods supermarket.

Bone Fish leased a 5,400-sq.-ft. endcap position. The restaurant is expected to open in September. Hand & Stone leased 3,600 sq. ft. of in-line space. The retailer is expected to open in April.

New York City -- Family Dollar Stores received a buyout offer on Tuesday from a New York hedge fund at $55 to $60 per share, a 36% premium over yesterday’s closing price. The offer, which values the company at up to $7.6 billion, was made by Trian Group, which is headed by activist investor Nelson Peltz.

Trian Group has been accumulating shares of the discount retailer in recent months, and Peltz has met with management to discuss ways to boost its performance.

Addison, Texas -- Coyote Management, L.P. said that Jim Adkins has joined its management team as the new senior leasing specialist.

Adkins will office at Lakeshore Mall in Gainesville, Ga.

Before joining Coyote Management, Adkins was VP retail leasing for Bull Realty.