Mass Merchant

New York -- Dollar Tree Inc. reported that net income in the second quarter dipped 2.6% to $121.5 million, from $124.7 million a year earlier, amid higher freight costs and investments in higher-value products.

Revenue rose 9.5% to $2.03 billion, and same-store sales increased 4.5%, beating Wall Street estimates of a 2.5% rise. It was the chain’s26th consecutive quarter of positive comparable store sales growth.

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- The Sembler Company will introduce the newest additions to its portfolio as the company participates in the International Council of Shopping Centers’ Florida conference Aug. 24-26 in Kissimmee.

As part of a strategic shift back to traditional grocery-anchored shopping centers, Sembler recently inked deals on two Florida centers: North Port Center, Heron Creek, a grocery-anchored neighborhood center in North Port, Sarasota County, Florida; and The Shoppes at Trinity Lakes in Pasco County, Florida.

Philadelphia -- Extreme-value retailer Five Below will open its first Brooklyn location on Aug. 29, at the Gateway Center.

The 7,500-sq.-ft. store location will feature the company's signature format, with all merchandise priced at $5 and below and grouped into one of eight store departments: Style, Room, Sports, Tech, Crafts, Party, Candy and Now.

Five Below plans to open additional stores in Brooklyn in the next few years.

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales and raised its full-year profit forecast, helped by strong sales at Old Navy.

Net profit rose to $332 million in the second quarter ended Aug. 2, from $303 million a year ago.

New York -- Family Dollar said it favors a smaller deal with potential buyer Dollar Tree, and firmly rejected an offer for takeover by larger competitor Dollar General.

Following an $8.5 billion offer last week by Dollar Tree, Dollar General offered a $9 billion, all-cash deal.

Jackson, Tenn. -- Transwestern announced that it brokered the disposition of Lynnwood Place, a 96,666-sq.-ft. shopping center in Jackson, Tennessee. The seller was Columbia, South Carolina-based Edens, and the buyer of the Kroger-anchored retail center was Phillips Edison & Company.

Completed in 1986, Lynnwood Place encompasses 11.73 acres and is 89% eased to retailers including Kroger, Charter Communications Inc., Cato Fashions and Youfit Health Clubs.

By Michael Hirschfeld, senior VP of JLL’s National Retail Tenant Services

New York -- A new Nielsen survey found that nearly 20% of consumers have already started their back-to-school shopping, and 75% plan to start within the next few weeks.

More parents are starting their shopping earlier than in the past, as 18% of survey respondents had already started their back to school shopping as compared to 7% at the same time last year. On the flip side, 15% are choosing to wait longer, while 50% do not plan to do any back to school shopping this year.