Walmart

Bloomfield Hills, Mich. — Jimmy Johns has signed leases for three new restaurants in the Detroit metropolitan area, two in Livonia and one in Northville.

In Livonia, Jimmy Johns signed a 2,277-sq.-ft. lease on Middlebelt Road. Mid-America Real Estate-Michigan (www.midamericagrp.com) represented Jimmy Johns and the landlord, CVS, in the transaction.

Ottawa, Canada - Target dropped prices on its monitored assortment by more than 20% during the days leading up to its confirmation of the data breach that compromised the security of 70 million customers’ personal information during the pre-holiday shopping season. According to data from 360pi analyzing approximately 830 products across eight categories, including TVs, tablets, digital cameras and more, Target dropped its prices by 18% between Dec. 14 and Dec. 17.

New York -- Nordstrom is going to be a big success in Canada, according to Antony Karabus, president, Hilco Retail Consulting. (Nordstrom has plans for six stores in Canada, with the possibility of adding a few more over time.) “Every one of the six stores they (Nordstrom) picked in Canada is a home run in terms of the location. It’s the perfect time, perfect sector and the perfect time in the sector,” Karabus said during a recent presentation on “The State of the Canadian Retail Market.”

One day after Walmart announced a deeper commitment to domestic sourcing, Whirlpool said it planned to spend $40 million on U.S. manufacturing plant that will result in the creation of 400 jobs by 2018. The investment will double the size of Whirlpool’s plant in Greenville, Ohio, where KitchenAid brand small appliances are made, and bring the total workforce at the facility to about 1,400 employees. The plant has been in operation since 1942, and Whirlpool said it will launch the expansion project following final approval of state and local assistance.

Walmart deepened its commitment to domestic sourcing and supply chain efficiency on Thursday when Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon unveiled a first-of-its-kind RFP process and a new Innovation Fund.

Both revelations came at an event Walmart holds each spring in Orlando known as the Year Beginning Meeting, or simply YBM. While much of the several day event is focused on Walmart store managers, a portion is devoted to trading partners who are given the opportunity to hear from top executives.

Chattanooga, Tenn. — CBL & Associates Properties has announced its newest community center development, Parkway Plaza, a 134,100-sq.-ft. project in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. Construction will begin in June, with the grand opening scheduled for spring 2015. Once complete, the 16+-acre site will offer several national retailers new to the area including anchor stores Hobby Lobby, Marshalls and Petco.

In 1984, at the impressionable age of 17, Doug McMillon’s journey with Walmart began in a way that hardly foretold he would one day become CEO. On the way to a Walmart warehouse for his first day of unloading trucks, McMillon rear-ended his supervisor’s car with his father’s Honda Civic, he recalled in the February issue of Walmart World.

Although McMillon’s early exposure to Walmart came inside a sweltering distribution center, he said the camaraderie, enthusiasm and passion he witnessed let him know something special was going on.

What’s next for Walmart under the leadership of new CEO Doug McMillon is the focus of the Spring edition of Walmart Supplier News.

Change is in the air at Walmart as the Doug McMillon era begins. No company makes a change at the top out of a desire to maintain the status quo, and McMillon has already indicated there are changes to come.