Real Estate

Glenwillow, Ohio -- Fashion retailer Dots announced Tuesday it has named former Wal-Mart Stores senior VP Lisa Rhodes as its new CEO.
   
Rhodes, who led Wal-Mart’s U.S. apparel merchandising division, has been charged with leading Dots’ march toward 1,000 stores, also announced Tuesday.
    
Prior to her role at Wal-Mart, Rhodes was executive VP and chief merchandising officer for Maurice’s.
   

New York City -- The New York Post reported Tuesday that Sears Holdings Corp. may be mulling over a sale of its Lands End unit. The move would dovetail with the massive restructuring effort the company has launched.

According to the report, chairman Eddie Lampert has been meeting with investors to discuss the divestiture of Lands End.
 

Dallas -- 7-Eleven said Tuesday it will acquire the retail and wholesale assets of San Antonio-based TETCO, which includes company-operated convenience stores in Utah and the Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio areas of Texas.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and closing is expected in November. The acquisition also signals a return to San Antonio for 7-Eleven, where the company had operated stores until 1989.

Laval, Quebec -- Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. said Tuesday its subsidiary Circle K Stores will acquire 29 stores in Orlando, Fla., from Florida Oil Holdings.

The transaction is expected to close at the end of August.

The BP-branded stores will be operated by Couche-Tard's Florida Division under the Circle K brand.     

"This is a great opportunity for the Florida Division to strengthen our market share in the Orlando market,” said David Morgan, VP operations, Florida.
 

Sharon, Pa. -- Casual-dining chain Quaker Steak & Lube said Monday it has opened its 50th restaurant in Lakewood, Ohio, and is on track to open 10 additional restaurants this year. The brand also will be expanding to six new markets with five franchise groups over the next several years.

"Over the past six months, we signed agreements to develop 11 new restaurants around the country, including three corporate locations in Texas," said John Longstreet, president and CEO.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- A report released Monday by the Associated Press said that Sears Holdings Corp. would be spinning off its Hometown and Outlet stores, along with some hardware stores, into a separate, publicly traded company.

Earlier this year, Sears had revealed it would split the companies but had not indicated the new organization would be a separate public entity.

There are approximately 1,238 Hometown, Outlet and hardware stores. Five Hometown stores have been closed, along with eight hardware stores and one Outlet unit.

Specialty retailer Express expects to have its first stores in Latin America open by year end.

Columbus, Ohio -- Express said Friday that one of its subsidiaries has entered into a franchise agreement with Fastco Commercial S.A., a retail franchise operator, to open more than 30 Express stores over a five-year period in Panama, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, The Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Seattle -- Bartell Drugs is moving its headquarters, the Seattle-based retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.

Bartell's, which operates 58 stores in and around Washington State’s largest city, said it would move its headquarters to the West Seattle Corporate Center in October. Its present headquarters is in Georgetown, a neighborhood south of downtown Seattle. The new, 32,000-sq.-ft. headquarters was built in 1991 as the headquarters for Services Group of America.

CINCINNATI — After delivering a 22% increase over the prior year in diluted per share for it second quarter (from 55 cents to 67 cents), Macy's Inc. has raised its full-year earnings guidance for 2012.

The company now expects earnings per diluted share to range from $3.30 to $3.35, compared with previous guidance for earnings per diluted share of $3.25 to $3.30. Guidance for same-store sales in fiscal 2012 remains unchanged at an increase of approximately 3.7%.