Retail

Petco has opened its first store in Mexico and announced plans for continued expansion in Mexico and Latin America through a previously announced joint venture with Grupo Gigante of Mexico. Together, the companies plan to open as many as 50 Petco stores in Mexico and Latin America by 2020.

Boca Raton, Fla. – The Altman Companies has closed on 10 acres in the Westchase area of Tampa, Fla., with close proximity to downtown and Clearwater. Construction on the 239-unit mixed-use Altis at Highland Park rental community is scheduled to start right away with first units to be delivered in July 2014.

The community will feature a mix of 239 apartments and 5,000 sq. ft. of retail space. Lender for the development is PNC Bank.

Mike Graen has left his position as director of innovations and supplier collaboration at Walmart to assume a new role with leading merchandising and marketing services company Crossmark.

Grain will serve as managing director of the Crossmark Center for Collaboration currently under construction adjacent to Walmart’s headquarters on Southwest 8th Street in Bentonville, Ar.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue is set to unveil a newly renovated men’s store at its Boca Raton, Fla., location in the Town Center at Boca Raton on Nov. 20.

The renovations focus on several enhancements, including six new dedicated vendor shops from Corneliani, Dolce & Gabbana, Ermenegildo Zegna, Armani Collezioni, Hugo Boss and Ralph Lauren Black Label, plus a denim shop and a new space for the exclusive Saks Fifth Avenue Men’s Collection.

Winston-Salem, N.C. — Krispy Kreme has announced the grand opening of a new Doughnut Factory in Doraville, Ga., for Oct. 29. The first 100 guests in line will receive free doughnuts for a year and commemorative T-shirts. The newly constructed, freestanding 2,300-sq.-ft. store includes a drive-through.

Today, Krispy Kreme operates more than 785 locations in 22 countries around the world.

The Walt Disney Company said it would enter China in 2015 with a new retail location planned for Shanghai that measures 10,800-sq.-ft. on a 53,000-sq.-ft. site in the heart of the city’s financial district.
Disney currently operates 340 worldwide locations but until this week’s announcement in Shanghai had steered clear of opening stores in mainland China.

New York -- The former chief marketing officer of Kohl’s, Julie Gardner, has joined the board of Cardtronics, which operates more than 80,000 ATMs at locations throughout the United States and internationally.

Gardner spent 14 years at Kohl’s and most recently served as executive VP and chief marketing officer. Prior to Kohl’s, Gardner was with the Eckerd Corp., a regional drugstore chain that was eventually acquired by CVS.

GNC plans to make some major supply chain investments in 2014, including opening a fourth distribution center serving domestic stores, located near Indianapolis, following strong results for the third quarter.

The company reported a net income increase of 17.3%, from $62.2 million to $73 million.

Revenue grew about 9%, from $621.6 million to $675.6 million. Same store sales increased approximately 6.7% in domestic company-owned stores, including GNC.com sales, in the quarter, while in domestic franchise locations, same-store sales increased 5.9%.