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IN BRIEF

Ikea

Scandinavian furniture chain Ikea opened its first store in a major U.S. urban area last month, in Philadelphia. Ikea already operates 20 other stores in this country (all of those are in suburban areas) and more than 200 around the globe. This summer it also opened units at Mall of America, Bloomington, Minn., and in New Haven, Conn.

Target

In July Target opened 27 stores in 15 states, bringing its total to 1,272 in 47 states. The company has also launched a fashion-related area called Red Hot Shop on its Web site, Target.com.

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores is building a 147,550-square-foot store at Echelon Mall, Voorhees, N.J., on an outparcel previously occupied by a J.C. Penney. The store, part of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust’s redevelopment of the 1.1 million-square-foot center, is scheduled to open in the spring of 2006. Wal-Mart recently opened a 206,000-square-foot store in General Growth Properties’ Westwood Mall, Jackson, Mich.

Sears, Roebuck and Co.

A 160,000-square-foot, stand-alone Sears Grand will anchor Coconut Point Town Center, the open-air, mixed-use project Simon Property Group is opening in Estero, Fla., in October of next year. Sears opened its third Sears Grand store in July, in Las Vegas.

Neiman Marcus

Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus will co-anchor General Growth Properties’ expansion of Natick (Mass.) Mall in the spring of 2007. Neiman Marcus is also opening a store at Simon Property Group’s SouthPark mall, Charlotte, N.C., in the fall of 2006.

Old Navy

Gap brand Old Navy has introduced plus-size clothing for women. The chain is offering the line in 50 of its 850 stores across the country and on its Web site. The chain also recently launched a maternity line in some of its stores.

AMC

AMC Entertainment is selling its AMC Theatres chain to JP Morgan Partners and Apollo Management for $2 billion. With 232 movie theaters, Kansas City, Mo.-based AMC is the country’s second-largest cinema chain, behind Regal Entertainment.

Kroger

Grocery chain Kroger opened its 500th supermarket with a fuel center, in Montrose, Colo., where in 1998 it had rolled out its first such unit. The chain is also buying three Albertsons supermarkets in Omaha, Neb., in a deal it expects to close early this month.

Chester’s

Fast-food chain Chester’s International, which operates some 1,400 restaurants, about 270 of them overseas, plans to open units in Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Puerto Rico this fall.

Wild Oats

Wild Oats is relocating its Boulder, Colo., headquarters to Westcor’s Twenty Ninth Street open-air center, where it will also build a 35,000-square-foot flagship. Twenty Ninth Street, a redevelopment of the former Crossroads Mall, is slated to open late next year.

Jos. A. Bank

Apparel retailer Jos. A. Bank Clothiers says it plans to expand to 500 units over the next three to four years. This year it plans to open between 55 and 65 units across the country. The retailer currently operates 225 stores in 36 states.

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