Dollar General Coming to Connecticut

Dollar General Corp. plans to open its first stores in Connecticut, as part of a national expansion expected to result in 625 new locations and 6,000 jobs.  Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based Dollar General did not immediately state what locations it is considering. The company also plans to remodel or relocate 550 existing stores, and last fall embarked on a program to purchase some of the properties where it has leases. 

Westfair Online

Stuck in the Middle, Jewel-Osco Make Changes

Jewel-Osco parent, Minneapolis-based SuperValu Inc., the biggest player in the grocery industry, announced that it will close about 20 underperforming stores around the country, none in the Chicago area.  Earlier, the company unveiled plans to double the number of its Save-a-Lot dollar stores, to 2,400 locations, over the next five years. 

Chicago Tribune

Mexico's Comerci Expands

Mexican retailer Comercial Mexicana, known as Comerci, plans to cut its debt load to between $900 million and $1 billion by 2014 and reactivate its store expansion plans.  The company's 2010 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were around 4.3 billion pesos ($352 million), a 7.5 percent increase from 2009.

Reuters

Praktiker Ends Year With Weak Q4

Praktiker has reported poor sales in its fourth-quarter, driving down overall fiscal year results. For the last quarter, sales at Germany's second- biggest home-improvement retailer dropped by 6.2% to €749m, missing analysts' estimates. Domestic revenue was down 6.5% to €514m, while international results were slightly better, down 5.7% to €235m.

Kam City

Reliance Retail Announces Major New Expansion

Reliance Retail will look to open up to 150 new stores by March 2011, adding to its existing 1,050-store network. CEO Bijou Kurien said the total investment could be as high as Rs.1.5bn (€26m).

Kam City

Watsons Planning 24 More Stores

Central-Watson Co says it will expand health and beauty chain aggressively this year with an investment budget of at least 200 million baht.  Of the total, about 120 million baht will be spent to open at least 24 new Watsons stores this year, on par with last year. The remaining 80 million baht will be used to transform 20 existing stores into a new concept.

Bangkok Post