Discount Store

Dublin, Calif. -- Ross Dress for Less will open two new stores in Illinois on Oct. 11. The stores are located in Hickory Point Mall in Decatur and Times Square Mall in Mount Vernon.  

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

Together, Ross Dress for Less and dd’s Discounts currently operate over 1,300 off-price apparel and home fashion stores in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

Elmsford, N.Y. - Party City has promoted Gregg A. Melnick to the position of president of Party City Holdings, effective immediately. Party City Holdings is the parent company of the Party City Retail Group and Amscan Inc., among other entities.  

Most recently, Melnick was the president of the Party City Retail Group. Melnick will partner with all of the key department heads across both the retail and wholesale divisions to provide the leadership to strengthen the brands and create opportunities for greater collaboration.

How well many retailers perform this holiday season in store and online will be determined by the shopping preferences of a demographic group that doesn’t typically get a lot of love from marketers.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. - Dollar General Corporation has extended its tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Family Dollar Stores Inc. for $80 per share, or about $9.1 billion, to Oct. 31. The offer was previously set to expire on Oct. 8. All other terms and conditions of the tender offer remain unchanged.

The step, which is largely procedural step, came as Family Dollar remained committed to its previously- agreed-upon deal with Dollar Tree for $74.50 a share.

As part of its agenda to boost liquidity ahead of the highly contested holiday shopping season, Sears Holdings plans to sell most of its 51% stake in its struggling Sears Canada division to shareholders — a move that stands to raise as much as $380 million by November.

Dublin, Calif. - Ross Dress for Less will open two new stores in Hawaii on Oct. 10. The stores are located in Kukui Grove Center in Lihue, on the island of Kauai, and the Kahala Mall in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu.  

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

Maplewood, Minn. -- Mid-America Real Estate Corporation’s investment sales team recently brokered the sale of Birch Run Station in Maplewood, Minnesota. The 278,347-sq.-ft. center was purchased by Greenwood Village, Colorado-based GDA Real Estate for $27.35 million.

Birch Run Station is located at the northwest quadrant of Beam Avenue and Southlawn Drive adjacent to the Maplewood Mall. The center is anchored by Marshalls, Jo-Ann Stores, Burlington Coat Factory, Herberger’s, and Dollar Tree.

Beachwood, Ohio – During third quarter 2014, DDR Corp. closed on the acquisition of eight prime power centers and the sale of seven operating assets and two land parcels, totaling $699 million of executed transactions. Seven of the eight power centers that the company acquired were purchased for $377 million at DDR's share from a joint venture formed with Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII L.P. in August 2013.