Store Systems

Antofagasta, Chile -- Atlanta-based tvsdesign said Monday it has partnered with Mall Plaza to repurpose the ground level of a parking garage into a high-end retail destination in Antofagasta, Chile.

The new retail destination, with tenants ranging from Roxy to Umbrale and Saville Row, opened in late 2011.

Mall Plaza wanted this new project to be an extension of Aires, a branded environment created by tvsdesign in 2010 and featuring a resort-like shopping district originally located in Plaza Vespucio.

Pittsburgh -- Dick’s Sporting Goods said Monday that it will open three new stores in three states on March 7.

A new store in St. George, Utah, will open simultaneously with new locations in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and Boardman, Ohio. Giveaways and special events will accompany each opening.

The St. George, Utah, store, the retailer’s third in the state, is located at Red Rock Commons shopping center. The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., store joins 17 other Dick’s stores in the state and will be located at the Regions Bank Plaza.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Higher front-end sales for the month of February helped counter-balance lost revenue from Express Scripts prescriptions, Walgreeens reported Monday. Overall, the drug store chain reported a 1.5% sales increase to $5.9 billion.

Shares of Walgreens were up slightly by 8 cents to $32.77 in early morning trading.

This year’s total February sales benefited from one extra day because of leap year, the company noted. 

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Stein Mart said Monday it will open three new stores on March 15, located in Irvine, Calif.; Suwanee, Ga.; and Sunset Hills, Mo.

The Irvine store is a relocation of another Irvine location. The two new and one relocated store bring Stein Mart’s total store count to 264.

“We are pleased to announce the expansion of our footprint in these three existing markets,” said Jay Stein, interim CEO.

San Jose, Calif. -- VeriFone Systems has acquired Lift Retail Marketing Technology Inc., Atlanta. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Lift Retail developed and markets the Lift Station, a network-connected digital marketing hub that integrates with point-of-sale systems (POS) in the convenience store and petroleum retailing market.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — General merchandise retailers Shopko Stores and Pamida has completed their merger that will create a $3 billion company that serves largely rural communities in 22 states.

The combined entity will retain the Shopko name. Shopko will be headquartered in Green Bay and Pamida’s corporate headquarters in Omaha, Neb., will be consolidated into the Green Bay office over the next several months.

By Kyle Priest, [email protected]

Pinch yourself: We really do live in a real world where sometimes you just need to touch stuff.