Bentonville, Ark. — Walmart, has released plans to hire approximately 150,000 new store associates, with most of the job positions being permanent and full-time. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer wants to hire new employees ahead of the holiday season to ensure its stores are highly staffed for the predicted busy months. This July, the discount retailer announced its education program called Live Better U, in which it will invest approximately $1 billion over the next five years to pay for college tuition and books for its employees. Walmart also offers an …
Schaumburg, Ill. — Sears is set to close its last store in the state of Illinois, according to reports by the Daily Herald and Crain’s Chicago Business. The Hoffman Estates-based retailer’s only remaining Illinois location is at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, which is scheduled to close on Sunday, Nov. 14. Simon Property Group is the mall owner. The parent company of Sears, Transformco, is pursuing redevelopment plans for the store, according to Crain’s.
Cleveland — MCG Architecture has partnered with Mark Trommsdorff, who will work on Southeast business development for the Cleveland-based design firm. Trommsdorff recently retired from Kimco Realty Corp. where he worked for over 33 years. Over the past 20 years, Trommsdorff has been involved with retail and mixed-use development projects in 20 states, mainly in the Southeast. Trommsdorff’s focus at MCG will be maintaining the firm’s current clients as well as developing new client relationships.
New York City — WHP Global, the parent company of Toys ‘R’ Us, has entered into an agreement with Macy’s (NYSE: M) to open more than 400 toy stores within the department store chain’s existing locations across the country in 2022. In addition to physical merchandise, the new stores will feature interactive experiences and activation centers to enhance the experience for both children and parents. The Wayne, New Jersey-based toy retailer originally announced its intent to close or sell off all its 700-plus U.S. stores in 2018. New York City-based …
San Diego, Calif. — Jack in the Box Inc. will build 64 new restaurants as part of 16 franchise development agreements. The 64 new locations will be located in Arizona, California, Idaho, Texas and Utah. Jack in the Box has opened 10 locations year-to-date with the goal of reaching 4 percent annual restaurant growth by 2025. In addition, Jack in the Box announced a new prototype earlier this year, which features a lane for drive-thru as well as a lane for online pickup and third-party delivery. These new prototypes are …
Minneapolis — Target (NYSE: TGT) has announced plans to expand to over 160 Disney shop-in-shop locations by the end of 2021. The Minneapolis-based retailer began opening Disney shops in select stores in 2019. The new stores will offer a collection of Disney items including toys and costumes ahead of the busy holiday shopping season. Target’s fiscal report for the second quarter of 2021 showed that toys have been a growing category for the company, according to CNBC. The news outlet also reports Target plans to join with FAO Schwarz to …
Bentonville, Ark. — Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has seen an increase in revenue during its fiscal second quarter of 2021, which ended on July 31. Walmart’s total revenue was $141 billion, an increase of 2.4 percent year-over-year. According to Refinitiv, the discount retailer’s earnings per share was $1.78 adjusted, while it was expected to be $1.57, and the company’s revenue was $141.05 billion, higher than the $137.17 billion expected. The retailer revised its 2021 forecast and is now predicting its earnings per share to range from $6.20 to …
Atlanta — Atlanta-based Home Depot reported a drop of 5.8 percent in customer transactions in its fiscal second quarter that ended in August 2021, but the average ticket of customer sales was 11.3 percent larger than last year. As people go back to working in an office after working from home since the beginning of the pandemic, fewer shoppers visited Home Depot during the fiscal second quarter due to less interest in do-it-yourself projects, according to CNBC. The home improvement retailer reported $41.1 billion in sales during its fiscal second …
Seattle — Amazon, the Seattle-based e-commerce giant, is planning to open a chain of department stores to boost its sales in clothing, household items, electronics and other areas. The news comes from a Wall Street Journal report citing “people familiar with the matter.” The first stores are expected to open in Ohio and California and, at around 30,000 square feet, will be smaller than a typical department store. “It is unclear what brands Amazon will offer in the stores, although the company’s private-label goods are expected to feature prominently,” the …
Dublin, Ohio and Miami — The Wendy’s Co. and REEF have formed a new development commitment to open and operate 700 delivery kitchens over the next five years across the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. Through this commitment, REEF will become the first Wendy’s franchisee in the United Kingdom. Wendy’s and REEF expect to open approximately 50 delivery kitchens in 2021, with the remainder launched by 2025.