Discount Store

Somerville, Mass. – Merlin Entertainments has reportedly broken ground on a new Legoland Discovery Center location at the 50-acre, mixed-use Assembly Row development in Somerville, Mass. According to the Boston Globe, the 44,000-sq.-ft. store will open in May 2014.

The store will be the only Legoland location in New England and employ about 100 people. Other retailers planning to open stores at Assembly Row include Nike, Brooks Brothers, Chico’s, and J.P. Licks.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. — Mid-America Asset Management has announced three new retail leases in Chicago’s northwestern suburbs. Mid-America represented the landlord in each transaction.

Charles Schwab signed a lease for 4,339 sq. ft. at Shops of Uptown in Park Ridge, a northwestern suburb of Chicago. The store is expected to open next spring. The 70,800-sq.-ft. center features Trader Joe’s, Houlihan’s and Jason’s Deli. Colliers International represented the tenant.

Colton, Calif. — The Hodgdon Group, a brokerage, development, construction and project management firm, has converted a former Sam’s Club in Sacramento into a 60,000-sq.-ft/ Burlington Coat Factory.

The new store opened last week. Hodgdon Group Realty and CBRE Sacramento represented the investor in the acquisition of the Sam’s Club building, as well as the landlord in the lease transaction. Retail West Inc. represented Burlington Coat Factory. An additional tenant has leased the remaining space and plans to open soon.

Supervalu’s renewed focus on driving sales and cash in all segments of its business seem to be paying off. The company has been working toward turning identical sales positive and posted net sales of $3.95 billion for the second quarter ended Sept. 7, up 0.2% from $3.94 billion for the prior-year quarter.

Minneapolis – Supervalu Inc. beat Wall Street estimates with second quarter fiscal 2014 net earnings of $40 million, compared to a $111 million loss in the year-ago period.

The supermarket operator reported net sales of $3.95 billion, up 0.2% from $3.94 billion last year.

Same-store sales results varied by banner. Same-store sales in the Save-A-Lot network were negative 0.3, while same-store sales for corporate stores within the Save-A-Lot network were positive 4.6% and were negative 0.9% in the Retail Food segment.

By Todd Maute, [email protected]

99 Cents Only Stores is driving some Halloween traffic to its stores by taking its marketing campaign to the zoo. From 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Oct. 19-Oct. 20 and again on Oct. 26-Oct. 27, the retailer will be on hand at the Los Angeles Zoo's 24th Annual Boo at the Zoo event.

Store employees will be handing out goodies to children at trick-or-treating stations throughout the zoo. 99 enthusiast Papa Joe Aviance will be at the 99 Cents Only Stores booth reading spooky stories to the kids.

Bentonville, Ark. – Kenyan retailer Naivas reportedly will not sell a controlling interest in the company to Wal-Mart’s South African subsidiary Massmart. According to Reuters, a Naivas executive said the retailer no longer plans to sell 50% plus one share of its stock to Massmart.