Didja hear...?
Westfield America Trust, div. of Australian-based Westfield Holdings, plans an additional $1.1 billion worth of shopping center redevelopment and expansions with
Forest City Enterprises, on top of the $770 million of projects currently underway, including the $410 million joint venture expansion of
Westfield San Francisco Centre...Tim Hortons (New England), Inc a subsidiary of
Wendy's International, Inc has announced a conditional agreement to purchase
Bess Eaton Donut Flour Co; Bess Eaton, which filed for Chapter 11, operates 48 coffee and donut restaurants throughout RI, CT and
MA...Chad M. Firsel has been appointed EVP of Chicago, IL-based Baum Realty Group in will head its new investment sales division; previously he was with
Millennium Properties, Inc...Tom Thumb Food Markets Inc has ceased operations and has closed the last of its 164 convenience stores throughout
MN...Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp, operator of 67 Souplantation and
Sweet Tomatoes salad buffet restaurants has completed a merger with Centre Partners Management LLC and
Fairmont Capital, Inc...Bloomfield Hills, MI-based Taubman Centers, Inc has appointed
David Weiner to VP Leasing; Weinert, who has been in the leasing department for 17 years, was previously with
Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate...Target Corp has announced it may sell its
Mervyn's and Marshall Field's department store divisions; San Francisco, CA-based Mervyn's currently operates 266 stores in 14 states and Minneapolis, MN-based Marshall Field's currently operates 62 stores in 8 states in the upper
Midwest...Quality Restaurant Ventures, Inc, franchisor of Sobik's Subs sandwich restaurants throughout central FL has acquired 19% of
Head West Enterprises, LLC, the franchisor of Westshore Pizza and
Cheesesteaks; Tampa, FL-based Westshore Pizza currently operates 44 units with 12 currently under construction and plans to open 30 additional units over the next five years (see P. H789)...Santa Monica, CA-based
Macerich Co has announced that Mickey Marraffino has joined the company as VP, Regional, Strategic Marketing Programs and
Tina Sigman has been promoted to VP Marketing Northern CA/Pacific NW region; prior to joining Macerich, Marrafinno was with
Forest City Enterprises...San Diego, CA-based BRE Commercial has joined the affiliate network of
Grubb & Ellis Co; the company will be known as Grubb & Ellis/BRE
Commercial...The Ghermzian family won another round in its legal bout with
Simon Property Group (SPG). Last fall, through its Triple Five Corp it wrested control of management and leasing for
Mall of America from SPG (See SCD, P. H647). Now a federal court has awarded them $5.26 million in legal fees. The suit is still under appeal... Richmond, BC-based
Rogers Communications Inc plans to introduce its Rogers Video stores in the Quebec market; currently, the company operates nearly 300 video stores in all provinces, except PQ...West Nyack, NY-based shoe retailer
Footstar Inc, plans to close about 165 stores including all 88 of its Just For Feet locations and 77 of its 429
Footaction stores. The company, which recently filed for Chapter 11, will continue to operate 352 Footaction
stores...The Gymboree Corp plans to enter the women's fashion market with the launch of
Janeville, a apparel chain targeting women in the mid-30s. The company plans to open about 10 stores by year-end (see P. H788)...Delray Beach, FL-based
Office Depot will acquire 124 former Kids 'R' Us stores for $197 million; the company plans to convert between 50 and 60 of the stores to Office Depot locations and sell off the remaining
locations...Boise Cascade Corp plans to close 45 of its recently acquired
OfficeMax stores in the second quarter '04...Peachtree City, GA residents have voted to reject the development of a $10 million, 400,000 sq. ft.
Kedron Village Shopping Center anchored by Target Supercenter 125,000 sq. ft. at Peachtree Pkwy and GA 74; the project was to be developed by Charlotte, NC-based
Faison Inc and locally-based Peachtree City Holdings.