Retail

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity Corp. said it is opening its first Destination Maternity store in Canada on Thursday in Calgary, Alberta, at the Kingsland Village retail development.

The store will debut its A Pea in the Pod brand in Canada.

CHICAGO — Jay Dettling was named president of Acquity Group, a global e-commerce an digital marketing company.

Dettling will lead North American Services and in addition to identifying strategic expansion targets, he will be charged with evolving Acquity Group's current service offerings in strategic, creative and technical practice areas to keep pace with technological advances and changing market conditions.

Los Angeles -- CBRE Group reported Thursday that, despite sluggish economic growth, the U.S. commercial real estate market remained on a recovery path in fourth quarter 2012.

The retail availability rate declined slightly to 12.8%, down 10 bps compared with the previous quarter.

“The broken record of slow but positive progress toward a real estate recovery continues to repeat,” said Jon Southard, managing director of CBRE’s Econometric Advisors Group.

CHICAGO — "[The year] 2012 was definitely an important year for Walgreens," Greg Wasson, Walgreens president and CEO, told shareholders here, at the Navy Pier, Wednesday afternoon, at the chain's annual shareholder meeting. "We did make some tough choices to protect and solidify … our position for the long term," he said. "[But] our vision is crystal clear to become the first choice for health and daily living in America."

Chicago -- Walgreens on Wednesday told shareholders at the chain’s annual meeting in Chicago that it will continue to push the envelope of traditional drugstore retailing. Going forward, the company said it is focused on three areas of opportunity:

Conyers, Ga. -- Brixmor Property Group announced a 24,920-sq.-ft. lease was executed with Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts at Conyers Plaza, located in Conyers, Ga.

Brixmor, based in New York City, is the owner of Conyers Plaza.

SUFFERN, N.Y. — Ascena Retail Group reported a lower than expected 2% decline in same store sales at physical stores for the November and December holiday period, but managed a 30% increase in online sales.

Combined comparable store and e-commerce sales for the holiday period ended December 29, 2012 increased 1%, prompting Ascena to lower earnings per share guidance for its current fiscal year ending July 27.

Farmington Hills, Mich. -- Agree Realty Corp. said Thursday it acquired a portfolio of four Applebee's restaurants, as well as an Advance Auto Parts in late December 2012 for about $10 million.

These latest acquisitions bring Agree’s 2012 total purchase activity to approximately $81.5 million.

The recently acquired Applebee's assets are located in Harlingen, Texas, and Wichita Falls, Texas, as well as two properties in Pensacola, Fla. The Advance Auto Parts is located on an outlot to a Walmart Supercenter in Lebanon, Va.