Real Estate

Suffern, N.Y. -- Ascena Retail Group, which operates the Maurices and dressbarn banners, said Tuesday it will launch a 760,000-sq.-ft. distribution center expansion in central Ohio.

Upon completion, the new facility will distribute apparel and accessories for its lineup of brands, which also includes Justice & Brothers, Lane Bryant and Catherines.

Minneapolis -- Investment firm Joh. A. Benckiser Group agreed to acquire Caribou Coffee Co. for approximately $340 million.

Caribou will continue to be based in Minneapolis and operate under its own brand and management, the companies said in a statement. As of September 30, 2012, the company had 610 coffeehouses, including 202 franchised locations, in 22 states, the District of Columbia and 10 international markets.

North Bergen, N.J. -- The Vitamin Shoppe announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the assets of Super Supplements, a specialty retailer of vitamin, mineral and supplements for approximately $50 million.

Super Supplements, headquartered in Seattle, operates 31 stores in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The acquisition expands the Vitamin Shoppe's presence in the Pacific

Seattle -- Nordstrom announced that it plans to open a Nordstrom Rack in downtown Washington, D.C., at the 1800 L Street, NW building. The approximately 35,000-sq.-ft. store is scheduled to open in spring 2013.

The retailer also plans to open a Nordstrom Rack at Columbia Crossing in Columbia, Md., a shopping center that is owned and operated by Kimco Realty Corp. The approximately 40,750-sq.-ft. store is expected to open in spring 2013.

Minneapolis -- Target announced plans to open a 140,000-sq.-ft. store in Pomona, Calif., in October 2013.

To date, Target has announced plans to open 16 Target stores in 2013.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS/pharmacy and Medicine Chest Pharmacy announced Friday that CVS will acquire 19 Medicine Chest drug stores in Texas during the last weekend of December.

CVS/pharmacy will operate nine of the acquired locations and relocate 10 other Medicine Chest pharmacies into nearby existing CVS/pharmacy locations. Medicine Chest will continue to operate its remaining 10 locations.

New York -- Best Buy Co. on Friday said it agreed to extend the deadline to Feb. 28 for founder Richard Schulze to make a bid for the company.

The company said it is in the best interest of shareholders to let Schulze and his partners include results from the holiday season in their due diligence review.

Restoration Hardware doesn’t operate many stores, but it is enjoying tremendous momentum at the ones it does operate.

Former Best Buy chairman Richard Schulze is reportedly close to reaching an agreement to buy the company he founded, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune report citing a source close to the situation.

New York -- A Thursday report by the Minneapolis Star Tribune said that Best Buy Co. founder Richard Schulze is expected to make a fully financed offer of $5 billion to $6 billion by the end of the week to buy the retailer.     

The newspaper cited an unnamed source for the report.

The bid would fall below Schulze’s August offer of up to $10.9 billion including debt.

Best Buy has not yet commented publicly on the report.