Discount Store

New York -- Academy Sports + Outdoors will celebrate the simultaneous opening of four stores in the Orlando, Florida, area in March.

The new stores will be located in Kissimmee, Waterford, Lake Mary and Melbourne and will open simultaneously at 8:30 a.m. on March 6. The openings mark the Katy, Texas-based company’s furthest expansion eastward to date.

The $4 billion sporting goods retailer has entered into a multi-year partnership with the Orlando City Soccer Club beginning with the team's inaugural 2015 season.  

By Will McKitterick, analyst, IBIS World

Target may not have been very successful in Canada, but the retailer has an altogether different strategy for the United States, where it will open 15 stores in 2015.

Target says it plans to open more small store formats than suburban big box stores this year.

The Minneapolis-based retailer will bring its smallest store, TargetExpress, which at 20,000 square feet is about a sixth of the size of its traditional big box stores, to two more metropolitan areas this year with one store slated for Chicago and two for the Washington, D.C., area.

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- In 2014, The Sembler Co. said it saw increased activity across business segments, from more than 700,000 sq. ft. of new and renewed leases, to expanding the company’s geographical reach.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. –  As part of a 2014 announcement in which Sears Holdings Corp. said it had entered into lease agreements with European fashion retailer Primark for seven standalone stores in the Northeastern United States, the retailer said that two of these seven locations will be at Danbury Fair in Danbury, Connecticut; and Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold, New Jersey.  

The TJX Companies announced that William H. Swanson has been elected to its board of directors.

New York -- Jones New York announced that it will close its 127 outlet stores and discontinue its wholesale business over the course of 2015.

The company said that it made the decision after a review of recent performance and outlook. Jones also said it will pursue strategic alternatives for the brand, which has long been a staple in mid-priced department stores. Its appeal, however, faded in recent years as department stores expanded their private label offerings.  

New day dawning at Tuesday Morning Tuesday Morning CEO Michael Rouleau declared the company’s turnaround complete after same store sales popped 7.6% and operating profits surged 32% during the second quarter ended Dec. 31.

The operator of 800 stores reported that the same store sales increase was as a result of a 7.7% increase in customer transactions, offset by a 0.1% decrease in average ticket. Sales at the 31 stores relocated during the past 12 months increased approximately 50% and contributed 140 basis points to the comparable store sales increase of 7.6%.