Mass Merchant

New Iberia, La. -- Centro Properties Group said that T.J. Maxx will open a 24,035-sq.-ft. store at Lagniappe Village, in New Iberia, La. 

New York City-based Centro is the owner of Lagniappe Village.

West Pottsgrove, Pa. -- Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based Fameco Real Estate, L.P. said that  Carmike Cinemas has signed a lease for an approximately 46,000-sq.-ft. state-of-the-art multi-screen movie theater to be located in the  Upland Square Shopping Center, in West Pottsgrove, Pa.

Lenexa, Kan. -- Seattle-based Nordstrom announced plans to open its first Nordstrom Rack in Kansas. The 34,925-sq.-ft. store will be located in Lenexa at the Orchard Corners shopping center and is expected to open in fall 2011.

Washington, D.C. -- Retail sales rose for a sixth consecutive month in December, with big gains in sales of autos and furniture. The increases lifted sales activity for the year by the largest amount in more than a decade.

Sales rose 0.6% last month to a level of $381 billion, the Commerce Department said Friday, less than the 0.8% economists had expected. However, the increase pushed sales for all of 2010 up 6.7%, the largest annual increase since 1999. Excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.5% last month.

MINNEAPOLIS - Just days after announcing 2011 U.S. expansion plans, Target announced an acquisition in Canada that will enable it to open between 100 and 150 stores during the next four years. The company announced that it has agreed to pay C$1.825 billion to purchase from Zellers Inc., a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company, the leasehold interests in up to 220 sites currently operated by Zellers Inc. This transaction will allow Target to open its first Target stores in Canada beginning in 2013. 

NEW YORK - The retail industry descended upon the Javitz Center in New York City this week for the National Retail Federation’s 100th Big Show, and despite the tough economy, the general mood of the show was one of optimism and excitement. 

Addressing the packed auditorium before Monday’s super sessions, NRF president and CEO Matt Shay said. “There are very few organizations that enjoy the stature of retail, very few businesses that contribute more to the local economy.”

Retailers at NRF’s convention this week got a citing of Bill Fields, a former Walmart executive who spent 25 years with the company serving in various roles from 1971 to 1996. Today Fields is chairman of a group called China Horizon, a joint venture with the Chinese postal service charged with helping to develop retail and consumption in rural China, and it was the topic of China that Fields addressed during the super session: “Making the retail business dynamic,” sponsored by Microsoft.

Where Walmart goes consumer packaged goods companies follow, as is evident by the growing number of companies signing on or deepening their relationship with the FLW Outdoors fishing tournament sponsored by Walmart.

Walmart announced that it is funding Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom, a new initiative aimed at increasing breakfast consumption among schoolchildren and highlighting the academic and nutritional benefits of eating in the morning.

Walmart Foundation donated $3 million to the initiative being run collectively by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), National Association of Elementary School Principals Foundation, National Education Association Health Information Network, and School Nutrition Foundation.

Walmart Canada has a few years to get ready for the arrival of Target following yesterday’s major announcement that its arch rival would be heading north of the border via an acquisition. That is the same strategy Walmart employed all the way back in 1994 when it bought 122 former Woolco stores. Walmart now operates 323 stores in Canada, and by the time Target gets around to opening its first units in 2013 that figure will probably be closer to 400.