REAL ESTATE

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General plans to open 625 stores and add more than 6,000 new jobs in 2012. The locations will be spread among Dollar General’s 38-state operating area, and include the new markets of California, where it will open 50 stores and a distribution center, and Massachusetts. The discounter will also open a distribution center in the Golden State this year.

New York City -- Macy’s Inc. announced a strategic plan on Wednesday to open new stores in select markets as well as to close a series of underperforming units. As part of the plan, five Macy’s department stores will be shuttered in spring 2012 – in Topeka, Kan.; Laurel, Md.; Parma, Ohio; Antioch, Tenn.; and Texas City, Texas. Five new Macy’s stores will open in 2012 and 2013.

New York City -- Sears Holdings Corp. has identified 79 of the 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart stores it said last week it would close, with the preliminary list split almost evenly between the two chains.

Florida will be hit the hardest, with 11 stores to be shuttered, the Associated Press reported. Ohio, Michigan and Georgia are not far behind with six store closures planned in their states. Tennessee, North Carolina and Minnesota are set to lose four stores each.

Santa Ana, Calif. -- The struggling housing market, weak job growth and ongoing consumer deleveraging caused the retail market to lag other property sectors in 2011, according to Grubb & Ellis Co.’s 2012 National Real Estate Forecast, which predicts a year of slow but continued growth for all commercial real estate property sectors.

Seattle -- Nordstrom announced plans to open a Nordstrom Rack in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The approximately 34,000-sq.-ft. location is scheduled to open during fall 2012 at Edinger Plaza, where it will join anchor tenants Dick's Sporting Goods, Michaels and PetSmart. The center is owned and managed by Watt Companies with Wilson Commercial Real Estate handling leasing.

When it opens, the Edinger Plaza store will be the fifth Nordstrom Rack in Orange County. Nordstrom also operates six full-line stores in the area.

Philadelphia -- Forever 21 recently relocated and expanded to a two-story location in the newly developed wing at Willow Grove Park, located in eastern Montgomery County just north of Philadelphia. The mall is owned and operated by Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group said that Brian Nelson has been named general manager of Town Center at Boca Raton, located in Boca Raton, Fla.

Nelson will be responsible for mall operations, tenant relations, leasing, marketing, business development, security and customer service.

Nelson was previously the Indianapolis-based area manager for Greenwood Park Mall, Washington Square Mall and four community centers operated by Simon Property Group.

He has been with Simon Property Group since 2000.

Cherry Hill, N.J. -- Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust said that fashion brand Bijoux Terner has opened a new store at Cherry Hill Mall, located in Cherry Hill, N.J.

The 767-sq.-ft. value-priced accessories store is an expansion of an in-store presence at Italian Treasures, located at PREIT’s Voorhees Town Center property, in Voorhees, N.J.