Discount Store

Tampa, Fla. — RMC Property Group has earned two exclusive leasing assignments on Florida’s southern West Coast.

First is Fountain Court, a 180,420-sq.-ft. community shopping center in Bradenton’s Highway 64 retail corridor near the beaches and Anna Maria Island. Anchor tenants include Bealls Department Store and Planet Fitness.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. — Mid-America Asset Management Inc. has announced new retail leases in four shopping centers in Chicago’s northwest suburbs.

Big Blue Swim School signed a lease for 10,075 sq. ft. at The Grove in Buffalo Grove, Ill. The School’s second location in the Chicago area, it is expected to open in November. Jewel Osco, Chase and American Mattress anchor the 117,367-sq.-ft. center. Mid-America represented the landlord in the transaction. NGKF represented the tenant.

Smaller format stores are all the rage these days. Dollar General, which already operates nearly 12,000 stores, plans to open 700 more units this year. Walmart recently announced plans to accelerate growth of its smaller format stores by opening between 270 and 300 small stores, more than double the 120 to 150 store range it projected last fall. Even Target has gotten in on the action with plans to open its first Target Express store near downtown Minneapolis this summer.

New York -- Ross Stores continues to expand in 2014. The off-price retailer has already opened 30 Ross Dress for Less and seven dd's Discounts stores in 14 different states, and there's more to come.

"We remain on track to open a total of approximately 95 new locations in 2014, comprised of about 75 Ross Dress for Less and 20 dd's Discounts," said Jim Fassio, president and chief development officer. "Today, Ross Dress for Less is the largest off-price apparel and home fashion chain in the U.S.”

York, Pa. -- Bon -Ton Stores said its CEO, Brendan Hoffman, will step down early next year. The announcement follows a disappointing fourth quarter for the company.

Hoffman, a former CEO of Lord & Taylor, will leave Bon-Ton on Feb. 7, 2015, when his contract expires. He also will step down as director. Hoffman cited "strictly personal reasons" for his decision to leave.

He was appointed CEO of Bon-Ton in February 2012.

Inclement weather has hurt some retailers’ quarterly sales results, but it has been no match for Dick’s Sporting Goods. The company’s fourth-quarter results exceeded the upper end of guidance range it provided in its third quarter press release.

ZAANDAM, the Netherlands — Ahold has entered into an agreement to acquire Spar's business in the Czech Republic. The acquisition includes 50 stores of which 36 are compact hypers and 14 are supermarkets.

Kmart and Sears are among a group of companies identified as “the least engaging brands of 2014,” in a recently released index of customer loyalty.

"A brand can't do well in today's marketplace if it can't engage consumers, no matter how many ads are run, and no matter how much social networking one does," said Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys, a New York-based brand loyalty and emotional engagement research consultancy.