Discount Store

With its deal to buy Jet.com officially close, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon decided to answer a question that many folks have been asking: Why Jet.com?   In a blog on its website, McMillon listed the top five reasons it bought the online startup. The top reason: to better serve Walmart customers and reach new ones.  

Kmart continues to shrink.   The chain is closing another 64 stores, Marketwatch.com reported.   The latest round of closings are in addition to a decision by Kmart parent Sears Holdings Corp. last April to close 68 Kmart stores this year, the report said.   Kmart operated 941 stores as of Jan. 30, meaning it has now announced plans to close about 14% of its locations.

As more retailers announce their seasonal hiring plans, filling omnichannel-supporting roles will be a priority.  

Saks Fifth Avenues’ value-luxury brand opened its fourth Virginia outlet this week in Springfield, just outside of Alexandria.   The new store occupies a 30,000-sq.-ft. space on two levels in the PREIT-owned Springfield Town Center, its first mall location in the Washington, D.C., area.   

A first-of-its kind arrangement has saved Aeropostale.    A consortium made up of Authentic Brands Group (ABG) and two of the nation’s largest real estate companies — General Growth Properties and Simon Property Group — announced it has finalized the acquisition of the teen apparel retailer. It is the first time that mall operators have participated in a deal to acquire a retail chain.  

Dollar General announced a major hiring initiative to support its continued expansion.   The discounter said that within the next month it intends to hire 10,000 new employees to support planned store openings and fill current vacancies. The chain will hold approximately 600 localized hiring events through September. It is looking to hire both full-time and part-time positions, including store managers, assistant store managers, lead sales associates and store associates.  

Smithfield Properties has sold five properties in Chicago to the Acadia Realty Trust for $150 million, reported the deal’s broker, Mid-America Real Estate Corp.   The properties were:   • North Kingsbury Center on the corner of North Avenue and North Kingsbury Street, with tenants including Old Navy, Pier 1 Imports, Blick Art Materials, and Modani Furniture.  

More smaller, “flex-format” stores are in Target’s future.

Target Corp. CEO Brian Cornell sees the chain eventually opening hundreds of smaller “flex-format” stores, he told reporters Wednesday prior to the company’s fall national meeting at its Minneapolis headquarters, Bloomberg reported.

Target has opened 23 smaller stores in major cities, with plans to add nine more this year, including one in the Tribeca section of downtown Manhattan.