Commercial Construction Magazine

 Today in the News

Winn-Dixie to close 30 stores
Supermarket chain Winn-Dixie Stores is closing 30 under-performing stores and is eliminating 120 corporate and field support staff jobs to reduce costs, incurring related charges in the first quarter of fiscal 2011. The grocer said it expects to take charges of $35 million to $50 million and sees saving $12 million to $17 million annually. The company also said it would consolidate its operating regions to three from four.

- Posted July 28, 2010

Fred Meyer banning plastic
bags in Portland, Oregon stores
Kroger banner Fred Meyer has announced that effective August 1, 2010 it will eliminate plastic bags from its 10 stores in Portland, Oregon. The move follows a similar initiative implemented at its Hawthorne, Oregon store last year as part of its bid for LEED certification. Whole Foods eliminated plastic bags from all of its stores nationwide in 2008.

- Posted July 27, 2010

Chicago mayor wants third Wal-Mart store
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is throwing his support behind a third Wal-Mart store in Chicago. The store is part of the retailer's plan to open stores across the city and further penetrate urban markets. Daly said the store would add much-needed jobs and stimulate the economy, according to an AP story. Daley doesn't need City Council approval for the third store, but he said he wanted the support of city leaders. Wal-Mart announced plans to open several dozen stores across the city in a five-year plan called "Chicago Community Investment Partnership." The goal is to create 12,000 jobs and generate $500 million in tax revenue.

- Posted July 26, 2010

Roundy's continues Chicago expansion
Grocery retailer Roundy's plans to open between 12 and 18 stores in the Chicago area over the next five years under the Mariano's Fresh Market banner. Future stores are scheduled to open in a two-story structure in downtown Chicago next summer; the south side of Chicago in late 2011 or early 2012; Vernon Hills at the end of 2011; and the Lincoln Park area at a site on which the company is still negotiating, Mariano told Supermarket News.

Sears Outlet opening 100th store
Sears Outlet, a division of Sears Holdings Corp., is opening its 100th outlet store. The 37,000-square-foot store is in Schaumburg, Ill. The retailer also will open other Sears Outlets in Concord, N.C., and Norfolk, Va., in 2010.

- Posted July 23, 2010
 

Study: Consumers still cutting back
Sure, there are some improvements in the economy. But that doesn't mean consumers have let loose yet. A recent Harris Study survey shows consumers are still cutting back on purchases, including early morning coffee and dining out. The nationwide survey found that 48 percent of the 2,227 adult respondents said they are brown-bagging lunch instead of purchasing a meal, compared with 45 percent of respondents who responded that was in February. Two in five adults, or 39 percent of those polled, said they were using refillable water bottles instead of purchasing bottled water, compared with 34 percent who responded that way in February. Morning beverage purchases also took a hit, as one in five respondents, or 22 percent, said they have stopped buying their early morning coffee in order to save money.

- Posted July 22, 2010

Marshalls expanding into Canada
TJX Cos. Inc., which runs Winners low-cost fashion stores in Canada, will launch its Marshalls discount chain here next spring. The company, which also runs the HomeSense chain of home decor stores, envisions 90 to 100 Marshalls stores in Canada eventually. The company will roll out its first six Marshalls stores in Canada next spring.

Winners is known for selling coveted brands such as Calvin Klein, Prada and Ralph Lauren at up to 60 per cent off their regular price. It purchases excess inventory from suppliers and retailers. And while TJX has made headway with its key concepts in Canada, its StyleSense chain, launched almost two years ago, is still being tested here with no plans for expansion.

Marshalls will differentiate itself from Winners in its product categories. In the United States Marshalls carries more children’s and men’s wear and footwear than its T.J. Maxx stores.

TJX runs 208 Winners stores, 79 HomeSense outlets and three StyleSense shoe and accessories outlets. Its U.S. stores include 903 T.J. Maxx outlets and 819 Marshalls and it also has stores in Europe.

- Posted July 21, 2010

Kohl's earns 500th Energy Star store label
Kohl’s Department Stores has had its 500th location earn the Energy Star label from the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy. The 500th store is located in its hometown of Menomonee Falls, Wis. The retailer estimates that it prevented nearly $50 million in electricity costs through lighting and HVAC efficiencies and through energy-efficient building systems. Overall, the retailer has seen energy improvements of more than 20%.

Kohl’s officials said that beginning in spring 2011, all newly constructed stores will pursue Designed to Earn the Energy Star designation, which is awarded for building designs with an estimated energy performance that meets Energy Star criteria. Five Kohl’s stores in 2010 have already received the Designed to Earn designation.

Kohl’s was named a 2010 Energy Star Partner of the Year. The retailer operates more Energy Star-labeled stores than any other department store with nearly half of its stores earning the designation.

Fresh & Easy investing in store openings
Tesco’s Fresh & Easy will open nine new stores in California in September 2010. The store openings would lead to the creation of more than 180 jobs in the state. The retailer currently operates approximately 150 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada.

- Posted July 20, 2010

Office Depot opens first LEED CI store
Office Depot recently opened its first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Commercial Interiors (CI) registered store in Austin, Texas. The retailer expects the store to be certified a few months after opening. Through LEED CI, Office Depot is able to integrate environmentally friendly attributes into its stores’ preexisting shells. Beginning with the Austin store, all new and relocated North American retail locations will receive LEED CI certification, including 14 stores planned for 2010. Office Depot plans to continue the success of its LEED Gold-certified store, which opened in 2008. The store, also located in Austin, made Office Depot the first retailer to receive LEED Gold certification on a store prototype.

- Posted July 19, 2010

Report: Chain-store weekly sale up
Chain-store sales for the week ended July 10 rose 3.2 percent from the year-earlier period, according to a recent survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. On a week-over-week basis, sales fell 1.5 percent after two weekly gains. Customer traffic patterns were mixed by segment with discounters and specialty apparel retailers benefiting over the last week. ICSC expects July sales to rise 3 percent to 4 percent. That compared against a 5 percent decline in the year-earlier July.

- Posted July 14, 2010

Reduced energy use key
to Best Buy's sustainability efforts
Best Buy continues to increase its sustainability efforts. The retailer reduced greenhouse gas emissions in its U.S. store operations by 14.8 percent in fiscal 2010, compared with its 2005 baseline, according to the company’s 2010 Sustainability Report. In total, the chain said it had reduced carbon emissions by 162,155 metric tonnes below its 2005 baseline. Its original goal was an 8 percent reduction in carbon intensity per square foot by 2012.

A key factor driving emissions trends is energy use, which Best Buy  managed to hold steady despite increasing its retail square footage by 5 percent. The chain increased its use of virtual servers, allowing the number of physical servers it uses to remain almost flat despite an increase in stores and locations. The retailer is also working with Xcel Energy to test the effects of increasing the temperature of its data rooms in order to further reduce energy use.

Best Buy said it also plans to invest in a centralized, ultrasonic humidification system, which it said with both save energy and provide a return on investment within a year.  The company will also focus on reducing fleet fuel use, tighter operational controls, reduced plug loads, and carbon offsets or renewable energy credits.

- Posted July 13, 2010

Former Elder-Beerman exec
rolling out new retail concept
Fred Mershad, former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Elder-Beerman Stores, is at it again. His latest venture, as CEO of Linens & More for Less, is a retail start up. The new retailer will open six stores before the end of the year, with the first scheduled to open July 23 in Warren, Ohio. It will later open a Dayton-area location. It is scheduled to open in the former Linens ‘N Things location inside the Dayton Mall on Sept. 23.

Linens & More for Less will specialize in selling all items that can be found in the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. Mershad said the stores will offer 28 lines of cookware, which is two or three times what most stores offer, and more than 150 patterns of comforters.

Next year, the retailer plans to open as many as 15 stores with multiple locations in larger markets such as Columbus and Indianapolis. Mershad wants to open four or five locations in each market to make better use of distribution, marketing and management.

- Posted July 9, 2010

U.S. retailers push to expand overseas
As Americans' love affair with shopping cools, retailers are venturing overseas in search of growth, according to a LA Tiimes story. For example, Bloomingdale's and Crate & Barrel each opened their first store outside the U.S. in Dubai this year. Abercrombie & Fitch just opened its first store in London. Sears has begun shipping tools and clothing to 90 countries. Macy's is looking at going into China. And Target, the discount chain that for a decade has resisted Wall Street pressure to expand internationally, revealed this spring that it wants to open stores outside the U.S. and is looking at Canada, Mexico and Latin America.

Even Wal-Mart Stores Inc. – the retail behemoth that has been operating internationally since 1991– made clear at its annual meeting in June that it was counting on consumers outside the U.S. to make up for stalled sales at home.

Retailers have known all too well the risks of expanding overseas. But as long as Americans were shopping with a vengeance, it was easier to build more stores at home. Now the tables have turned, and the risk of losing ground by avoiding foreign countries is too real to ignore, the story reported.

According the story, the European apparel market is about 10% larger than the U.S. apparel market, according to Urban Outfitters' calculations, with more than two-thirds of that volume in five countries: Britain, Spain, France, Italy and Germany. The market size leads Senk to believe that he could operate at least 100 Urban Outfitters and 100 Anthropologie stores in Europe.

- Posted July 7, 2010

Target to open first Manhattan store
Target will open its first store in Manhattan, at a shopping center in east Harlem, later this month. The retailer already has about a half-dozen stores in New York:  Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens. It also occasionally opened temporary “pop-up” stores in Manhattan. For the new store, Target is using a pedestrian bridge to link the plaza's second floor to mass transit, including the No. 6 subway, which Target recently adorned in its red-and-white colors. A parking deck also us available. The new store will use the retailer's expanded grocery concept, an idea it's rolling out in hundreds of stores across the country. Target is in the process of hiring 400 people for the store. 

- Posted July 2, 2010

Write it down: 2010 executive
retreat schedule set

If you’re looking to build strong relationships with key industry decision makers, the Commercial Construction Executive Retreats are the place for you. Our events provide: high-level conversations on issues and trends driving your business (roundtable discussions); diverse relationship building activities (think golf); and evening networking events (dinner and cocktails).

This year’s retreats are:

Retail Retreat
September 23-26, 2010
The Broadmoor
(Colorado Springs, Colo)

Hospitality Retreat
October 21-24, 2010
Barnsley Gardens
(Atlanta, Ga.)

For more information on attending one of these events, e-mail Editor Michael J. Pallerino at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it For more information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Publisher David Corson at 770-781-2501 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it