Mass Merchant

New York City -- On the heels of a strong November, some department store retailers reported surprisingly weak December revenue. Results were impacted by a blizzard in the Northeast, which took a bite out of sales after Christmas.

The results raised some worries that the holiday season might be less stellar than some had hoped. Still, much of Wall Street still predicts that November and December spending will show the largest annual increase since 2006.

Hammond, La. -- Covington, La.-based Stirling Properties, developer of Hammond Square, said that Charming Charlie will occupy a 9,911-sq.-ft. space on Main Street across from Books-A-Million and Shoe Department Encore.

The anticipated opening is spring 2011, and will accompany openings by Academy Sports + Outdoors and The Children’s Place.

Natick, Mass. -- BJ’s Wholesale Club announced that Robert W. Eddy, senior VP, director of finance, has been named executive VP and CFO, and Cornel Catuna, BJ’s senior VP field operations, has been named executive VP club operations. These management changes will be effective on Jan. 30.

Chicago -- Year-over-year retail sales increased 6.5% for the week ending Jan. 1, according to ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate, while the company’s Retail Traffic Index (SRTI) reported foot traffic rose 4.1% for the same period.

HOUSTON - Datacert announced that Walmart has selected its Passport technology platform, to help strategically manage Walmart's domestic legal processes and systems. In addition, Walmart will implement Datacert's matter management and spend management systems, which are built on Passport.

St. Paul, Minn. -- Paster Enterprises said that five new tenants have been secured at the company’s projects throughout the area. New tenants include Furniture CLW, No Box TVs, Chickadee’s House, Anytime Fitness and Wilson’s Leather Outlet.

In Crystal Shopping Center, a 370,000-sq.-ft. community center, Wilson’s Leather Outlet will open a 3,171-sq.-ft. store. In Lexington Plaza Shoppes, a 26,747-sq.-ft. neighborhood center, Chickadee’s House will open a 1,332-sq.-ft. bird enthusiast store.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced that Deidra Cheeks Merriwether has been promoted to senior VP and president of its Retail Services business unit, succeeding James H. Haworth who will be leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Merriwether will be responsible for the oversight and leadership of retail services for all Kmart and Sears stores.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens reported on Wednesday that its December sales rose 7.5% to $6.8 billion. The chain said that Duane Reade stores, which Walgreens acquired in April 2010, contributed 2.5 percentage points.

Walgreens’ same-store sales for the month rose 2.8%

The company said front-end sales were up 9.5%. Pharmacy sales, which accounted for 58.6% of total sales for the month, saw a 6% boost.

During the month of December, Walgreens opened three stores, including one relocation, and acquired three stores.