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New York -- RKF announced that it has arranged four long-term leases for U.K.-based sandwich chain Pret A Manger.

The new stores are located at 655 Sixth Avenue, 319 Broadway, 350 Park Avenue and 303 Park Avenue South. With the addition of these new stores, Pret A Manger will have 36 Manhattan locations.

While the 655 Sixth Avenue location recently opened, the other three locations are slated to open in April.

PLANO, Texas — Dr Pepper Snapple Group has purchased a company that bottles its beverages for much of the West, the company said.

CHICAGO — KitchenAid has announced plans to introduce the first line of non-licensed cookware, bakeware and kettles in its nearly 100-year history. KitchenAid had previously offered these products through a licensing arrangement.

"These newest KitchenAid products look, feel and perform like those that built our reputation as a brand," said Michael Huie, global business unit director for KitchenAid.

New York -- RKF said it has arranged a 2,100-sq.-ft. lease for GNC at 302 Canal Street in downtown Manhattan.

The new store, which will consist of 1,050 sq. ft. on both the ground floor and basement of the building, is located less than one block east of Broadway near Mercer Street.  It will become GNC’s 47th Manhattan location when it officially opens this spring.

With this latest lease transaction, RKF has arranged five retail leases in New York City on behalf of GNC.

AMSTERDAM — Keeping stores open during Hurricane Sandy was one of the factors that contributed to an increase in total store sales and comps in the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2012 for Ahold USA, the supermarket operator's Dutch parent company said Thursday.

Ahold attributed its 4.3% increase in sales in the fourth quarter, to $6.1 billion, partially to the Hurricane Sandy effort. The quarter also saw comps increase by 2.4%, while full year sales were $25.8 billion, a 3.1% over 2011, as comps increased by 1.4%.

Dedham, Mass. -- iParty Corp., a leading party goods retailer with a strong presence in New England, has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Party City Holdings Inc., North America’s largest party supply retailer.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target is planning a rollout in Canada that will be bigger than any single year's worth of its store openings in the United States ever, executives of the company said Wednesday morning in a call with Wall Street analysts to discuss the mass merchandise retailer's fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 results.

Sixty percent of retailers with at least two years of negative comps turn them positive.

Here’s how. 

Two years of deep same-store sales declines can easily feel like a death sentence for most retailers. However, the data suggests it is indeed far from that. 

We analyzed all specialty retailers with sufficient public data over the last 20 years—nearly 70 retailers—and found that the majority of retailers who substantially underperformed the market ended up turning their comps positive in relatively short order.