Mass Merchant

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer announced that it is opening a new concept store in the Chicago suburb of Melrose park that will provide a tailored grocery offering and a broad variety of general merchandise.

Called Meijer Marketplace, the new store will be 96,000 sq. ft., about half the size of Meijer's largest supercenters. 

Shelby Township, Mich. -- Centro Properties Group US announced that Ulta will open a 9,405-sq.-ft. store at Hall Road Crossing, located in Shelby Township, Mich.

Centro Properties Group, based in New York City, is the owner of Hall Road Crossing.
 

CHICAGO — About a week after announcing it would join First Lady Obama and other retailers in bringing more choices to so-called "food deserts", Walmart announced its official presence in Chicago today with the news that it has begun work on a new supercenter in Chatham. According to the company, the store will give more options to residents of Chicago's South Side neighborhood while at the same time creating approximately 400 jobs.

By Michael Havdala, [email protected]

When the Circuit City and Linens N’ Things spaces began to go dark in 2008, many landlords wondered who would step up to take their places. These concerns only deepened as the economic downturn cast doubt over retail leasing prospects.

Here’s a good idea for retailers looking to bring a sense of newness and a treasure hunt atmosphere to stores. Sign exclusive agreements with known and emerging designers or upscale brands during limited duration merchandising events as a means to achieve differentiation. Sound familiar?

Target pursued this concept more than a decade ago with general merchandise and earlier this year observed the 5th anniversary of the Go International designer program with a collection of products from past designers.

Salisbury, N.C. -- Discount grocery chain Bottom Dollar Food announced Monday plans to enter the greater Pittsburgh and Youngstown, Ohio, markets.

The expansion includes 14 stores that will open in 2012 and slated to create more than 600 jobs.

It’s a good thing Target is preparing a major relaunch of its digital platform considering traffic to the company’s website has decelerated this year, according to online measurement firm comScore, which publishes a monthly list of the top 50 U.S. Web properties. Target climbed back into comScore’s to 50 ranking in June with 23.8 million unique visitors.

Presque Isle, Maine -- Westport, Conn.-based Charter Realty & Development Corp. said it has arranged a lease for 25,000 sq. ft. for a T.J. Maxx store in the Aroostook Center Mall in Presque Isle, Maine.

T.J. Maxx will join Lowes, Sears, J.C. Penney and others in this project. This 525,000-sq.-ft. center is owned by Sitt Assett Management.

Charter Realty currently represents TJX Cos. for their T.J.Maxx, Marshalls, Marshalls Shoes and HomeGoods divisions in various markets throughout the Northeast.