Mass Merchant

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.
 

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.

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.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target has announced plans to remodel several stores in the Charlotte area. According to the company, the remodeling will begin March 27 and will add such features as open-market fresh food layout, complete a selection of fresh produce, fresh meat and baked goods. The new layout also includes reinventions in several other areas throughout the store such as beauty, home, baby and shoes.

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.

WAYNE, N.J. – The Toys“R”Us Children’s Fund has made an additional donation of $500,000 to Save the Children, bringing the Fund’s total contribution to $1 million to support the organization’s relief efforts for children and families impacted by the crisis in Japan.

Target made an original donation of $500,000 to Save the Children earlier this month.

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.

Walmart’s small format desires certainly haven’t gone unnoticed by the folks at Dollar General, a company that appears bent on saturating the marketplace with small discount stores. Last year, Dollar General opened 600 new stores and remodeled or relocated 504 other stores to end its fiscal year with 9,372 stores. This year, more of the same is planned with the expansion figure getting a bump to 625 new units, while the number of remodels and relocations expands to 550 units.