Mass Merchant

North Plainfield, N.J. -- Results of a survey released Tuesday by shopping center owner Levin Management Corp. showed that, while store sales remain relatively flat, the majority of its retail tenants are optimistic about the balance of 2011.

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Regency Centers’ Pleasant Hill (Calif.) Shopping Center has more going for it than a vibrant market and a strong anchor lineup. Ross Dress for Less has debuted in the 234,000-sq.-ft. center with its 1,000th store location.

Ross’s new 30,000-sq.-ft. store opened on July 16, bringing Pleasant Hill to 99% occupancy. Other tenants include Target, Toys “R” Us and Barnes & Noble Booksellers alongside national retailers including Men’s Wearhouse, Payless ShoeSource, GameStop, Metro PCS and soon-to-open In-N-Out Burger.

Melville, N.Y. -- DJM Realty, a Gordon Brothers Group company, said Monday it has been retained to exclusively manage the disposition of all remaining Borders Group and Waldenbooks real estate in the United States. The news came after Borders announced it had abandoned hope that the company could be saved from liquidation.

Cape Town, South Africa -- A Tuesday report by Bloomberg said that South Africa’s parliament will let anti-trust regulators decide what conditions to impose on Wal-Mart Stores in its acquisition of Massmart Holdings Ltd.

The Competition Tribunal ruled on May 31 that Wal-Mart could proceed with its $2.4 billion purchase of a controlling stake in Johannesburg-based wholesaler Massmart on condition no jobs are cut for two years.

Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots announced Tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of Brantford, Ontario-based Liquidation World, representing Big Lots’ first foothold outside of the United States.

Closeout retailer Liquidation World currently operates 89 stores in Canada.

Prices were cut on 1,500 items at Target.com last Friday as the retailer executed an online-only Black Friday in July promotion. It was the second consecutive year Target conducted the event which, despite the name, pales in comparison to the real Black Friday, which is an operational nightmare and features extreme discounts on prices retailers would rather not get in the habit of offering at other times of the year.

Nine of the 21 new store openings Target has planned for this year are scheduled to open on July 24. Among the openings is a new unit in Hilo, Hawaii, the company’s fourth store in Hawaii, two units in San Luis Obispo and Oxnard, Calif. and two units in the Pennsylvania cities of Hanover and Pittsburgh. The Phoenix suburb of Chandler gets a new Target as do Moore, Okla., Kenner, La. And Swansea, Mass.

The openings planned for October are said to included units in San Clemente and Dublin, Ca., Gastonia and Morrisville, N.C., Blue Ash, Ohio and Warwick Township, Pa.

At least one retail analyst saw Target’s Black Friday in July promotion last week as an exercise in creative marketing and evidence that even bigger things could be coming this fall when the retailer ends a relationship with Amazon and brings its online efforts in-house.

Citigroup retail analyst Deb Weinswig said the Black Friday promotion “should also help to reinforce Target as a destination for deals and value ahead of the up-coming back-to-school and holiday seasons.”

Shares of Target are mis-valued at current levels around $50 and could eventually double if the company delivers on plans achieve $100 billion in sales and earnings per share of $8 by 2016 or 2017.

That’s according to Bernstein Research analyst Colin McGranahan who noted in a recent research report that he spent time at Target’s Minneapolis headquarter where he met with chairman, president and CEO, Gregg Steinhafel, CFO Doug Scovanner and EVP merchandising Kathee Tesija.

A new infant through tween apparel line from Gwen Stefani called Harajuku Mini for Target is slated to hits stores this fall, according to various media reports of an interview the singer did with Women’s Wear Daily. Prices are expected to range from $3.99 to $39.99.

Stefani already has an adult line of clothes called Harajuku, so it’s not like Target is taking a flyer on a completely unknown commodity.