JCPenney Co.

Des Moines, Iowa — The Des Moines Area Community College opened its school year with a new campus: a 65,000-sq.-ft. former J.C. Penney store located on the main level of Southridge Mall.

The mall’s owner, Macerich sold the space to DMACC for $1. The school, which has three other campuses in the Des Moines metro area, has invested $13 million in design, construction, equipment, labs and classrooms. Major donations will be announced this fall.

Bakersfield, Calif. — Foot Locker and Victoria’s Secret have expanded and remodeled at the 1.1 million-sq.-ft. Valley Plaza Mall in Bakersfield, Calif. Victoria’s Secret has also opened a new store for the popular PINK brand.

The newly remodeled Foot Locker, now spanning 5,000 sq. ft., plans to introduce an exclusive department called House of Hoops. It will feature elite athletic apparel and footwear.

J.C. Penney filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Monday that would allow for activist investor Bill Ackman to unload his entire stake in the company via a secondary stock offering.

According to the J.C. Penney’s filing, Ackman and various Pershing Square investment vehicles he controls plan to sell roughly 39 million shares representing 17.7% of the company’s 220.5 million outstanding shares.

New York -- Hedge fund manager and activist investor William Ackman is selling his entire stake in J.C. Penney.

Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management, Penney’s single biggest shareholder with an approximate 18% stake, is offering its roughly 39.1 million shares for sale and used Citigroup as the bookrunner for the deal, Reuters reported. Penney filed a prospectus for the sale.

By Kathy Gersch, VP at Kotter International [email protected]

Charlotte, N.C. — Divaris Real Estate has arranged two leases totaling approximately 9,000 sq. ft. of retail space at the Westfield Eastridge Mall in Gastonia, N.C. Divaris represented the landlord, WEA Eastridge LP.

Los Arcos, a family owned Mexican restaurant, leased a 6,183-sq.-ft. outparcel building. Creations, a gift card shop, renewed its lease for 2,669 sq. ft.

Belk, J.C. Penney, Sears and Dillard’s anchor the mall, which is leased exclusively by Divaris.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. isn’t taking any chances. The retailer on Thursday announced it has adopted a one-year shareholder’s rights plan to protect itself against any future hostile takeover efforts.

DALLAS — J.C. Penney Co. posted a wider-than-expected loss in the second quarter on a nearly 12% drop in revenue. But even though Penney’s results were worse than expected, there were small signs that interim CEO Myron Ullman may be starting to stop the bleeding related to former CEO Ron Johnson’s failed transformation of the chain.

The quarter was the first entirely under the watch of Ullman, who returned to Penney in April to undo the strategy put in place by Johnson, who planned to transform Penney stores into a series of branded in-store shops.