JCPenney Co.

New York City -- Grilled cheese and soup is the signature calling card at The Melt, a start-up restaurant concept debuting in San Francisco with big plans for the future. The Melt expects to have five eateries up and running in the Bay Area by yearend -- with plans to expand to over 500 locations nationally by 2015.

New York City -- J.C. Penney Co. CEO Myron "Mike" Ullman is on track to receive a hefty exit package when he retires from the company in early 2012. The package currently is valued at about $30.7 million, according to an analysis prepared for The Wall Street Journal.

Ullman will be succeeded by Apple retail guru Ron Johnson.

When Washington, D.C.-based Madison Marquette took over the leasing and management duties for Granite Run Mall, located in Media, Pa., near Philadelphia, it launched an innovative program for soliciting shopper feedback.

Stirling Properties, the developer of River Chase Shopping Center in the south Louisiana community of Covington, announced that Sam’s Club is coming to the center, planning a fall 2012 opening for the new 136,000-sq.-ft. warehouse club.

The largest open-air retail center in St. Tammany Parish, the 640,000-sq.-ft. River Chase is currently anchored by Target, Belk, J.C. Penney. Best Buy, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less and a 14-screen Hollywood Theater.

PLANO, Texas — While such higher-end apparel retailers as Nordstrom and Dillard's boasted impressive quarterly earnings and sales, those that cater to the middle class didn't deliver quite as strongly. Case in point, JCPenney, which reported net income of $14 million, or 7 cents per share, for the second quarter ended July 30. Net income for the same period last year was $14 million, or 6 cents per share.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. reported Friday that net income for the quarter ended July 30 was flat at $14 million, citing aggressive markdowns for a lackluster performance that fell below Wall Street expectations.

Revenue dipped to $3.91 billion from $3.94 billion in the year-ago period. Same-store sales increased 1.5%.

According to J.C. Penney, its focus on the middle-to-lower-income shoppers creates a challenge, as those consumers face economic uncertainty heading into the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons.

Philadelphia -- Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust announced that almost half-a-million sq. ft. of leasable space was signed or opened across its mall portfolio since the end of April.

According to PREIT, leases have been executed with J.C. Penney, Nordstrom Rack, Bravo Cucina Italiana and Forever 21 at Willow Grove (Pa.) Park, in the reconfigured space formerly occupied by Strawbridge’s.

Strength in the apparel category continued at Target during July, with same-store sales increasing just below the company average of 4.1%, positioning the company as a winner in a month where performance among competitors was uneven.