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After opening its first stores in Alabama this month, tween and teen retailer Five Below is taking Kentucky off its expansion list next, with new stores there opening this week.

"Entering Louisville is an important next step as we continue to grow our footprint across the country," said Joel Anderson, CEO of Five Below. "We're excited to serve new customers in this dynamic city. Kids and parents looking for a fun place to shop for trend-right, high quality products at a great value will surely enjoy Five Below."

North Kingstown, R.I. - Ocean State Job Lot is the latest retail chain to join the mobile payment revolution. The regional discounter now accepting two forms of mobile payments at the register, in addition to the traditional methods already accepted (cash, check, credit card, debit card, and EBT).

Shoppers can now opt to pay for purchases via Apple Pay and Google Wallet technology using their smartphones upon checkout.  The technology is available chain-wide at all Job Lot stores.

Columbus, Ohio - Easton Town Center, a 1.7 million-sq.-ft. “New Urban” shopping center, has announced that 13 new tenants have signed lease agreements to be included in the shopping center’s new 500,000-sq.-ft. north district, Easton Gateway. The announcement was made by Easton Town Center co-developers Steiner + Associates and The Georgetown Company.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. – Dollar General Corp. plans to increase employee income by making more working hours available to them, as opposed to raising salaries. Seeing a need to improve its stores in the face of expanded competition from the merging Family Dollar Stores Inc. and Dollar Tree Inc., Dollar General hopes to keep shelves better stocked with more labor hours.

Waban, Mass. - PetSmart and Amazon.com deliver the best customer experience in the retail industry. According to the 2015 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual ranking of companies based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers, PetSmart and Amazon.com tied for the top spot, each scoring 82%, which put them both in fourth place overall out of 293 companies across 20 industries.

Walgreens came in a close third with a rating of 81% and a ranking of eighth, while Bed Bath & Beyond, Lowe's, and Costco all earned 79% and tied for 19th place overall.

Pleasanton, Calif. – Safeway Inc. is reportedly selling three shopping center it owns in Hawaii. According to Pacific Business News, Carlsbad, California-based Terramar Retail Centers is paying about $156 million for the centers.

Two of the centers are anchored by a Safeway – the 23-acre Hokulei Village in Lihue on Kauai for $52.25 million, and the 12-acre Lahaina Cannery Shops on Maui for about $60.3 million. Terramar is also paying $43.4 million for the 24.5-acre Target-anchored Puunene Shopping Center on Maui.

New Orleans - Magnolia Marketplace, a 106,000-sq.-ft. shopping center located in New Orleans’ Central City neighborhood, opened Friday, March 13. The project, overseen by JCH Development and Stirling Properties, was 100% pre-leased prior to the January 2014 groundbreaking.

Big Lots is looking to drive springtime growth with a traffic generating campaign aimed at consumers looking for “shopping discoveries.”

The retailer is launching its “Shop Big Lots First” campaign to entice consumers to look to Big Lots for their outdoor entertaining needs. Customers will discover stylish, quality outdoor furniture at an incredible value, as well as the name brand grocery products needed to entertain family and friends outdoors, the company said in a statement.