Bealls, Burke's to Open 16 Outlets

Company officials announced Bealls and Burke's Outlet will open 16 stores between February and March.  The new additions will be heavily concentrated in the Southeast and will increase the company's square footage by nearly 10 percent to nearly 1 million square feet of retail space this year.  Bealls Outlet will make up six of the store grand openings with five in Florida and one in Arizona. And, Burke's Outlet will open 10 stores in Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky.

Bradenton

Tractor Supply Q4 comps up 13.1%

Tractor Supply Company reported that net sales for the fourth quarter increased 19.7% to $1.03 billion from $862.5 million in the prior year's fourth quarter.  Net income for the quarter was $50.2 million compared with $37.3 million in the prior year's fourth quarter.  The company opened 27 new stores and closed two stores in the quarter compared with 18 new store openings and no closed stores in the prior year's fourth quarter.

Home Channel News

Giant Eagle Gets Help with Customers' Tastes

To make better choices about which products to stock, the company plans to use an automated system called ''behavioral cluster planning'' starting later this year.  The computerized system uses local demographics, customer data, sales patterns and store sizes and locations to quickly determine which products to stock, how much to order, how to price them and where to place them in the stores.

Ohio.com

Meijer to Open Small-Format, Grocery-Focused Stores in Chicago Suburbs

Meijer continues to expand in Chicago's suburbs with plans to open small-format, grocery-focused stores this year in Berwyn and Melrose Park.  The Berwyn store, which would be Meijer's closest store to the Chicago city limits, is planned at Cermak Plaza.  The Melrose Park store is slated to open this summer.  Each store will measure 90,000 square feet, employ 100 to 130 and focus on groceries, compared with a supercenter's size of 150,000 to 200,000 square feet and work force of 300.

Chicago Sun Times

Germany's Lidl Opens Stores in Varna, Veliko Turnovo

German discount retailer Lidl opened its second outlet in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna and its first store in Veliko Turnovo in north-central Bulgaria.  Lidl intends to open its third outlet in Varna, currently being built on the site of a former diesel engine factory, in the coming months.  The new additions increase the chain's local network to 19 outlets, while the number of cities where Lidl already operates now stands at 14.

The Sofia Echo

Supermarket Giant Unveils UK's Largest Modular Build Eco-Store

The largest modular build in the UK was unveiled as a new green build superstore in Warwickshire.  Off-site construction specialists have built the new Tesco superstore using the modular system, which means it was constructed in a factory and assembled piece-by-piece on site.  The store has a number of green features including roof-mounted photovoltaic solar panels.  It has also been built to make use of rainwater harvesting and is clad in timber from sustainable sources. 

FHG Media

Little Waitrose Opens in London

Upmarket grocer Waitrose's expansion into the convenience sector continued this week with the opening of a new store on Old Brompton Street in London.  Dubbed Little Waitrose, the outlet will act as a trial to gauge consumer opinion towards this potential new sub-brand.  Much has been made of the grocer's expansion into convenience, with more than 40 smaller format stores planned to open by the end of 2011.

Retail Gazette

Lotte Shopping Reports Strong Q4 Profit

Lotte Shopping has seen its fourth-quarter profit double, helped by the strong performance of its department and discount store chains.  For the three months ending 31 December, net profit jumped to 376bn won (€246m), from 178.7bn won in 2009, while operating profit rose by 22% to 314.9bn won (€206m). For the full year, net profit was up 41% to 1.01trn won (€660m), operating profit was up 31% to 1.15trn won (€751m), and revenue rose by 22% to 14.1trn won (€9.2bn).

Kam City