Mass Merchant

New York -- Rwanda, Nigeria, Namibia, Tanzania and Gabon occupied the top five places of the first-ever A.T. Kearney African Retail Development Index (ARDI), a new study designed to help large, organized retailers determine where and how to best enter Sub-Saharan Africa's rapidly growing retail market. The ARDI not only identifies the markets in Africa most attractive for retail expansion today, but those that offer the most potential in the future.

Lands' End will be back on its own as a publicly traded company following a formal announcement by parent company Sears Holdings to spin off the well-known apparel brand.

The move follows years of speculation that Sears would divest the brand, which it acquired in May 2002 for $62 a share. At the time, Lands' End was a publicly traded company with revenues of nearly $1.6 billion, profits of $67 million and earnings per share of $2.23. The $62 a share Sears paid 12 years ago represented a 21.5% premium over the closing pricing of $51.02 prior to the announcement of the deal.

Covington, La. And Chattanooga, Tenn. — Phase I of Fremaux Town Center in Slidell, La., opened on Friday, according to the property’s joint developers Stirling Properties and CBL & Associates Properties.

Kohl’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Best Buy and T.J.Maxx anchor the 352,342-sq.-ft. center, which is more than 95% leased.

Advantage Sales & Marketing (ASM) has acquired San Antonio, Texas-based Longhorn Food Brokers to strengthen its fresh food focus in the Lone Star state.

“The addition of Longhorn will provide complimentary resources and broader support for our clients and customers in the fresh category,” said Tanya Domier, Advantage Sales & Marketing CEO. “The Longhorn acquisition continues our strategy of building a national footprint for perishable-focused retail and headquarter services by partnering with the regional leaders in these categories.”

Bloomfield Hills, Mich. — Jimmy Johns has signed leases for three new restaurants in the Detroit metropolitan area, two in Livonia and one in Northville.

In Livonia, Jimmy Johns signed a 2,277-sq.-ft. lease on Middlebelt Road. Mid-America Real Estate-Michigan (www.midamericagrp.com) represented Jimmy Johns and the landlord, CVS, in the transaction.

Ottawa, Canada - Target dropped prices on its monitored assortment by more than 20% during the days leading up to its confirmation of the data breach that compromised the security of 70 million customers’ personal information during the pre-holiday shopping season. According to data from 360pi analyzing approximately 830 products across eight categories, including TVs, tablets, digital cameras and more, Target dropped its prices by 18% between Dec. 14 and Dec. 17.

New York -- When building an urban store, be prepared for anything, and make friends with your local Economic Development Corp. early, advised retailers and a developer at the “Setting Up Shop Downtown” session at Chain Store Age’s 50th annual SPECS conference in Grapevine, Texas (March 9 -12, 2014). The session was particularly timely given that more and more retailers are targeting urban areas for growth — and the trend is likely to accelerate going forward.

After a 15% fourth-quarter same-store sales decline, Aeropostale is looking to accelerate the pace of previously announced store closures, further reduce an already limited store expansion program and has secured new financial flexibility from a private equity firm.