Mass Merchant

Dollar General maintained its momentum in 2010 by achieving record sales, profits and expansion and it’s looking like 2011 will bring more of the same. Last year, Dollar General opened 600 new stores and remodeled or relocated another 504 units to end its fiscal year on Jan. 28 with 9,372 stores. The additional square footage combined with a 4.9% same store sales increase enabled the company to grow total sales by 10.5% to roughly $13 billion.

Willow Grove, Pa. -- Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust said that Jos. A. Bank will open a new store at its Willow Grove Park shopping mall this spring.

The 4,465-sq.-ft. store will be located next to Bloomingdale’s and will join Men’s Wearhouse and Tux, Express, J. Crew, Banana Republic and Guess, expanding Willow Grove Park’s men’s fashion collection.

Chicago -- Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based Mid-America Asset Management said that Dollar Tree recently signed a lease for 10,900 sq. ft. at West Aurora Plaza in West Aurora, Ill., a western suburb of Chicago.

The new store is slated to open this June in a former Aronson Furniture space.
 

New York City -- Borders Group, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February and has announced plans to close about a third of its stores, said it plans to pay key employees as much as $8.3 million in incentives and retention bonuses, Bloomberg reported.

The retailer asked a judge to approve its plan in a filing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Courty in New York. Borders said it has historically compensated employees through incentives.

San Diego -- Target Corp. is suing a pro-gay marriage group to get it to stop canvassing outside its San Diego County stores, alleging the group’s activists are driving away customers, the Associated Press said.

Ronald Sargent and Frank Brown -- the CEO of Staples and the dean of an international business school, respectively -- have been nominated for election to The Home Depot's board of directors at the company’s upcoming annual meeting on June 2.

Separately, David Batchelder has informed the company that he has decided not to stand for re-election at the annual meeting. Batchelder, founder and principal of Relational Investors LLC, has been a director since 2007.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores said it will open a new office in Atlanta, positioning the retailer to more effectively manage nearly 1,600 stores in 20 eastern U.S. states and allow it to focus on opportunities to grow its business in states such as New York.

The new eastern business unit will be run by Rosalind Brewer, president of Walmart East and executive VP of Walmart U.S.

It seems like this kind of stuff only happens at Walmart. A female employee at a Walmart store in Naples, Fla. bit off the tip of a co-worker’s ring finger during a fight over an alleged affair, the Associated Press reported this week. Collier County Sheriff’s deputies said they charged 43-year-old Clodia Coicour with aggravated battery stemming from the incident that took place outside the store where they both worked.

Walmart International takes center stage next week with investors, as international division president and CEO Doug McMillon and other members of senior leadership offer insight into operations in China and Japan.

A monthly pricing survey by Credit Suisse showed Walmart had the lowest overall basket price in Dallas and Chicago and suggest that where prices head from here is up to Walmart.