Department Store

Bed Bath & Beyond plans to spend nearly $3 billion buying back its own stock during the next two years after weak results earlier this year prompted a sell-off in the company’s shares.

Newport News, Va. - Marketplace at Tech Center, a mixed-use lifestyle center Newport News, Va., will be the site of several stores and restaurants that cannot currently be found elsewhere on the Virginia Peninsula. These “first-to-market” retailers (with the exception of those that have outlet stores in Williamsburg) that have inked deals include:

• Whole Foods: 35,000-sq.-ft. of retail space
• DSW Shoe Warehouse: 18,062-sq.-ft. of retail space
• BJ’s Brewhouse: 7,400-sq.-ft. of retail space

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced today that Kristin M. Coleman will join the company as senior VP, general counsel and corporate secretary. Coleman most recently served as Brunswick Corporation's VP, general counsel and corporate secretary.

Coleman will be responsible for the oversight and leadership of Sears Holdings' legal business.

Dublin, Calif. -- Ross Dress for Less will open three new stores in Indiana on July 19. The stores include Waterford Park South Shopping Center in Clarksville, Shops on Main in Schererville, and Erskine Village in South Bend. 

These new openings are part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year. 
 

Off-price department store retailer Gordmans Stores is still without a full-time CEO, but the retailer did just fill two key marketing and e-commerce positions.

The Omaha-based apparel and home decor retailer named Amy Starr Myers to the role of SVP of marketing and Stacey Townsend was named vp and general manager of e-commerce to launch Gordman’s online sales effort.

Virginia Beach, Va. - Divaris Real Estate Inc. has signed a lease with Twist Martini & Associates for 2,442 sq. ft. of retail space in the Town Center of Virginia Beach. Twist Martini will operate a full-menu, dine-in restaurant including a martini bar, a cigar club, an outside patio area and a private lounge on the second floor. 

Birmingham, Mich. – A new 49,000-sq.-ft. mixed-use development including an entire floor of retail space is slated to open in downtown Birmingham, Michigan, in third quarter 2015. According to the Macomb Daily News, the development, called “The Forefront,” will be located in the Principal shopping district and feature retail stores on the first floor and 11 luxury condos on the second and third floors.

The development will be built on the site of an existing building, which will be demolished.
 

New York -- The heat is on — in more ways than one. While Target’s search for a new chief executive has been much in the news, the discounter is not the only big retailer on the hunt for a chief executive. Here’s a brief review (all dates are 2014 except where noted):