Real Estate

City of Industry, Calif. -- Private equity outfit Sycamore Partners said Thursday it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Hot Topic, valued at about $600 million and returning the Hot Topic namesake stores and the Torrid banner to the private sector.

"Hot Topic and Torrid are both leaders in their categories, and we are excited to have both brands as part of our portfolio," said Stefan Kaluzny, managing director of Sycamore Partners.  

Toronto -- Canada’s second-biggest supermarket operator has acquired Safeway’s Canadian portfolio of stores in a $5.7 billion deal that pulls the Pleasanton, Calif., chain completely out of the country.

Sobeys, a unit of Empire Co. Lt., has acquired 213 grocery stores, 62 fuel stations, 10 liquor stores, 12 manufacturing facilities and four DCs, leaving Safeway with 1,400 stores in the U.S. after the deal.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Red Legacy, a commercial real estate developer for shopping centers, has hired Stacy Scheelk as its new senior director of new business development.

Scheelk is a shopping industry expert with a background in local, regional and national business development and marketing. She will be charged elevating and maximizing the potential of each development by fomenting partnerships, securing sponsorships, creating specialty retail and increasing ancillary income.

Montreal -- Canadian jewelery retailer Birks will introduce a new retail concept in the summer of 2013, with new stores opening in DIX30 Complex, Brossard, Quebec, and in the new Mapleview Mall in Burlington, Ontario.

The new format, developed in collaboration with Sid Lee Architecture, will feature round 1,500 sq. ft. of retail space and be dedicated to jewelry from the Birks Collection.

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Meijer will open two 190,000-sq.-ft. supercenters in the northern Indiana towns of Portage and Warsaw on June 13. Meijer operates more than 200 stores in the Midwest and will have 32 stores in Indiana. Meijer expects the stores to create more than 500 new jobs.

Winston-Salem, N.C. – Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation has entered into a letter of intent with an affiliate of Sun Holdings, LLC for the sale of three company-owned shops in Dallas, and for Sun Holdings' further development of the Dallas market. The sale of the stores is subject to conditions, including the execution of a definitive asset purchase agreement and a development agreement pursuant to which Sun Holdings would undertake the further development of new Krispy Kreme shops in Dallas.

Green Bay, Wis. – Shopko intends to open five  stores under its Shopko Hometown banner in Afton, Wyo., St. Peter, Minn., and Winneconne, Ellsworth and Tomahawk, Wis., in late fall of this year.

The Shopko Hometown format is designed to serve smaller rural communities with the same product assortments available in larger areas and Shopko currently operates more than 180 stores in this format.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Target announced that its first 24 store locations in Ontario (Canada) have been awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification. As previously announced, the discounter is seeking LEED certification for all 124 stores scheduled to open in Canada this year.