Mass Merchant

The first Target stores in Canada won’t open until 2013, but the company recently announced it retained MDC Partners to lead the development of its overall marketing efforts. According to the company, the MDC integrated team is being led by kbs+p Canada and Veritas Communications, along with support from Northstar Research Partners and BOOM! Marketing. 

Shoppers face a lot of economic headwinds this back-to-school season, but one forecaster has seasonal sales growing by 6.2% to $467 billion, the most since 2006.

That’s according to retail consultants Customer Growth Partners’ annual BTS forecast, which defies warnings of a double-dip recession and sees American households as being more resilient with their back-to-school spending during the July through September time frame.

Boston -- WS Development announced that Aldi will open a new store at Stateline Shopping Center, located in Salem, N.H.

The new store, the grocer’s first in the state, will join a newly opened Lowe’s anchor, as well as Sovereign Bank and NAMCO at the recently redeveloped 232,000-sq.-ft. shopping center.

Somerdale, N.J. -- Purchase, N.Y.-based National Realty & Development Corp. said Tuesday that Applebee’s will open a new restaurant at the 385,000-sq.-ft. CooperTowne Center in Somerdale, N.J.

Applebee’s will occupy 7,029 sq. ft. of this redevelopment project and will join anchor tenants Walmart Supercenter, Cinemark Theatres and LA Fitness.

Denver -- Centro Properties Group US announced Tuesday that Dollar Tree has opened a new store in Denver.

The 8,460-sq.-ft. Dollar Tree store opened at Villa Monaco, which is owned by New York City-based Centro Properties Group.

Columbia, S.C. -- Shopping center owner and developer Edens & Avant said Friday that Whole Foods Market will open a new store -- its third in South Carolina -- in the company’s Cross Hill Market retail center in Columbia, S.C.

The new store will be Whole Foods’ first in the capital city and will occupy approximately 37,876 sq. ft. in the 74,326-sq.-ft. development.

Bangalore, India -- According to multiple reports on Monday, India’s largest retailer has hired two former executives of Wal-Mart Stores’ China operations as its two top executives.

Reliance Industries Ltd., which operates 1,000 retail stores across India selling everything from produce to electronics, has named Rob Cissell as CEO of Reliance Retail Ltd. and has named Shawn Gray as COO.

In his newest column, Retail Rap with Jeff Green, Chain Store Age columnist Green examines the early uptick in medical users in retail centers and questions why the trend has apparently stalled.

Click here to read his latest editorial. 

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores announced Friday that its U.K.-based Asda unit has promoted Judity McKenna to the position of COO.

McKenna is currently Asda’s finance director.

SAN FRANCISCO — Gap Inc. announced that it plans to open its first Gap store in Egypt this July and its first Gap and Banana Republic stores in Morocco this October. These store openings will mark the company’s first entry into Africa.

As part of an existing franchise agreement with The Fawaz Al Hokair Group, Gap will open its first Egyptian store in the Mall of Arabia in the capital city of Cairo. Two additional Gap stores will open at Cairo’s City Stars Mall and Sun City Mall this October.