Department Store

New York City -- Robert K. Futterman & Associates said it has arranged a long-term, 10,700-sq.-ft. lease with Mulberry at 134 Spring St., between Greene and Wooster Streets in SoHo.

The store will serve as the British lifestyle brand’s flagship location in New York City and will be its third store in Manhattan. Scheduled to open in the summer, Mulberry will occupy 5,700 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail and 5,000 on the lower level and will sell ready-to-wear in addition to accessories.

Brandon, Fla. -- Jacksonville, Fla.-based Regency Centers said it has leased retail space in Brandon, Fla., at Bloomingdale Square to Pet Supermarket.     

Pet Supermarket has leased 9,000 sq. ft., bringing the center to 96% leased. The pet supply retailer is slated to open in first quarter 2011.

The 267,736-sq.-ft. shopping center is anchored by a 92,681-sq.-ft. Wal-Mart, Bealls and Publix, plus other retailers such as Dollar Tree, Hallmark, RadioShack and Bank of America.

Washington, D.C. -- Retail sales rose for a sixth consecutive month in December, with big gains in sales of autos and furniture. The increases lifted sales activity for the year by the largest amount in more than a decade.

Sales rose 0.6% last month to a level of $381 billion, the Commerce Department said Friday, less than the 0.8% economists had expected. However, the increase pushed sales for all of 2010 up 6.7%, the largest annual increase since 1999. Excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.5% last month.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group announced that its Town Center at Boca Raton shopping mall is celebrating the grand opening of two national retail debuts, a Florida first in dining and several other upscale additions.

Recently, Swiss watch manufacturer Ulysse Nardin opened its first freestanding U.S. boutique at Town Center at Boca Raton. Prior to the holidays, gold vending machine, the GOLD to go ATM, opened.

New Iberia, La. -- Centro Properties Group said that T.J. Maxx will open a 24,035-sq.-ft. store at Lagniappe Village, in New Iberia, La. 

New York City-based Centro is the owner of Lagniappe Village.

Minneapolis -- Just days after announcing 2011 U.S. expansion plans, Target announced an acquisition in Canada that will enable it to open between 100 and 150 stores during the next four years. The company announce that it has agreed to pay C$1.825 billion to purchase from Zellers Inc., a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Co., the leasehold interests in up to 220 sites currently operated by Zellers. This transaction will allow Target to open its first Target stores in Canada beginning in 2013.

MINNEAPOLIS - Just days after announcing 2011 U.S. expansion plans, Target announced an acquisition in Canada that will enable it to open between 100 and 150 stores during the next four years. The company announced that it has agreed to pay C$1.825 billion to purchase from Zellers Inc., a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company, the leasehold interests in up to 220 sites currently operated by Zellers Inc. This transaction will allow Target to open its first Target stores in Canada beginning in 2013. 

Walmart Canada has a few years to get ready for the arrival of Target following yesterday’s major announcement that its arch rival would be heading north of the border via an acquisition. That is the same strategy Walmart employed all the way back in 1994 when it bought 122 former Woolco stores. Walmart now operates 323 stores in Canada, and by the time Target gets around to opening its first units in 2013 that figure will probably be closer to 400.