Department Store

Lexington, Ky. – Tarrytown, N.Y.-based DLC Management Corp. sad that Half Price Books will open a new store at Fayette Place, located in Lexington, Ky.

The 8,976-sq.-ft. junior anchor will join Marshalls, Shoe Carnival, Pier1 Imports, Outback Steakhouse and Dollar Tree in the neighborhood shopping center.

It will be the second Half Price Books location in the Lexington community.
 

Lawrenceville, Ga. – Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group said that Crazy 8 will open a store at its Discover Mills property, Atlanta’s largest outlet, value retail and entertainment destination.

Gymboree Corp.’s Crazy 8, slated to open this fall, will join newly announced tenant Old Navy Outlet at the center.

Discover Mills features more than 180 retailers, as well as four full-service restaurants and entertainment venues.
 

Having past the calendar’s mid-point, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at the most viewed stories of the year to date on Chainstoreage.com. (Based on the results, it’s clear that J.C. Penney is shaping up as THE story of 2012.) Here are the Top 10 stories of the first six months:

Dallas -- Venture Commercial said that LA Fitness has signed a long-term lease to build a 45,000-sq.-ft. facility in the Old Town Shopping Center in Dallas, on the site of a former Borders bookstore.

LA Fitness has begun razing the existing building on behalf of the landlord, preparing the site for construction of a new prototype club, which is expected to open around the end of the year.

MINNEAPOLIS and DALLAS — Target and Neiman Marcus have joined forces for a unique partnership that will bring a limited-edition holiday collection to both stores beginning Dec. 1. The collection will also be available online at Target.com and NeimanMarcus.com.

Dallas – Loyalty and marketing solution-provider Alliance Data Systems Corp. said Tuesday that it has signed a multi-year renewal agreement to continue providing the private label credit card program for Omaha-Neb.-based Gordmans Stores, which operates 78 stores in 46 markets across 18 states.

Additionally, Gordmans and Alliance Data have begun a full rollout of Alliance Data's in-store, tablet-based mobile technology to drive account acquisition efforts following a successful pilot earlier in 2012.
 

Boston -- A report released Tuesday by CB Richard Ellis found that, despite concerns about the pace of economic recovery and lukewarm employment growth, the U.S. commercial real estate market showed improvement across all property sectors in the second quarter of 2012.

Retail properties, which have generally lagged other property sectors during the recovery, saw a slight improvement in availability, which fell to 13% during the second quarter.

PLANO, Texas — JCPenney is cutting approximately 350 positions at its headquarters as part of its plan to restructure the company.