Mass Merchant

Smart move by Target to open its first wave of Canadian stores in Ontario, as the province accounts for roughly one third of the nation’s 36 million residents and is home to Target Canada headquarters and distribution facilities.

Toms River, N.J. -- Fameco Real Estate said it has signed a lease with Tardi’s Ristorante at Bellcrest Plaza, located in Toms River, N.J.

Owned by H. Hovnanian Industries, Bellcrest Shopping Plaza is a 106,000-sq.-ft. neighborhood shopping center formerly anchored by Foodtown but still home to Planet Fitness, Burger King and Provident Bank.
 

Target may have floundered a bit in December, but many retailers reported solid sales gains for the month. Overall, retail sales rose 3.4% at the 22 retailers tracked by the Thomson Reuters same-store sales index, compared with the 3.3% analyst forecast, however results were mixed.

That was the case with the nation’s discounters and department store retailers, with many chains citing unseasonably warm weather that sapped demand for cold-weather merchandise.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. announced Tuesday that Thomas J. Engibous will become chairman of its board of directors, effective Jan. 28.

Engibous was named to the board in 1999 and has served in presiding director and lead independent director roles since 2008. He will assume the chairman's role from Myron E. (Mike) Ullman, III, J.C. Penney’s former CEO, who will step down as executive chairman.

Engibous is the retired chairman of Texas Instruments Inc.

New York City -- According to Chain Store Age columnist Jeff Green’s latest editorial, one of the most noteworthy trends of this holiday season was the robust performance of independent retailers.

What could this mean for retail real estate? Click here to read more.

Minneapolis -- Christopher & Banks Corp. announced that its board of directors approved a change in the company’s fiscal year-end to the Saturday nearest to the end of January, rather than the Saturday nearest to the end of February.

The retailer said the change, which is effective for the company’s current fiscal year, will provide certain benefits, including aligning its reporting periods to be more consistent with that of other specialty retail companies.
 

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart is expanding the services it offers at tax time to include free in-store federal Form 1040EZ filing.

The chain has partnered with Jackson Hewitt and H&R Block to double its in-store tax kiosks and lower the cost for tax preparation services. Jackson Hewitt will offer free federal Form 1040EZ filing at its Walmart kiosks throughout the tax season, and H&R Block will offer a free federal Form 1040EZ until Feb. 29.

Seattle -- Nordstrom plans to open a Nordstrom Rack in Tysons Corner, Va. The approximately 42,000-sq.-ft., two-level store is scheduled to open during fall 2012.

Nordstrom Rack will open in the former Filene's Basement space and join tenants Morton's Steakhouse, Bertucci's restaurant and Bank of America in a 215,000-sq.-ft.  mixed-use project. The project is owned by Rocks Tysons Two LLC and managed by Allen & Rocks, Inc. with KLNB Retail handling leasing.