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Retailers’ Growth Plans Span Nearly 3,200 Stores and a Major U.S. Acquisition
3 Retail Investment Updates From Strip Centers to Mixed-Use
SJC Taps Related Ross Executive Brett Warner as CFO

Five Below Opens 2,000th Store and Sees Potential for More Than 3,500

Discount retailer Five Below recently opened its 2,000th store and wants to add more than 1,500 new locations over the long term. “We believe that we have the opportunity to grow our store base to more than 3,500 locations over time,” Five Below said in its annual report for fiscal year 2025, noting that it opened 150 net new stores in fiscal year 2025, which ended on Jan. 31, and plans to open about 150 net new stores in fiscal year 2026. Five Below typically leases space at power, community and lifestyle shopping centers in urban, suburban and semi-rural markets. Under its new format, stores are about 9,500 square feet.

Ross Stores Is on Track To Add About 110 Locations This Year

Off-price clothing retailer Ross Stores is on track to open about 110 new Ross Dress for Less and DD’s Discounts stores this year. In June and July alone, Ross Stores has debuted 47 new stores nationwide, following 17 openings in February and March. Growth markets for the retailer, which operates more than 1,950 locations in 44 states, include Michigan, New York and Puerto Rico for Ross Dress for Less and California, Florida, North Carolina and Texas for DD’s. Executive vice president of property development Richard Lietz said in March that Ross Stores sees a “clear path” toward a long-term goal of 2,900 Ross Dress for Less stores and 700 DD’s locations.

TJX Sees Room To More Than Double Sierra’s Store Count

Here’s an under-the-radar retail brand to watch: TJX Cos.’ off-price outdoor apparel and gear merchant, Sierra. One of TJX’s fastest-growing brands, Sierra said it is opening a nearly 20,000-square-foot store next month in Beavercreek, Ohio, according to the Dayton Daily News. The Beavercreek location is among 24 Sierra plans to open in fiscal year 2027, which ends on Jan. 30, 2027. As of May 6, Sierra operated 153 stores in the U.S., up from 145 at the outset of fiscal year 2027. TJX has set a long-term goal of expanding Sierra to 325 locations, more than double the current count. During an earnings call for the first quarter of 2027, TJX president and CEO Ernie Herrman said the company is “very bullish” on Sierra’s prospects and expects the brand to become a “bigger player” in TJX’s bottom-line results.

Sierra’s plans come as Cushman & Wakefield’s Q2 2026 U.S. Retail MarketBeat report finds that value-oriented retail is primed for real estate growth. “Grocery, discount, value, and health and wellness retailers are driving most leasing conversations and are best positioned to capture available space, as recent vacancies create opportunities for backfilling,” the report said. “Landlords with tenant mixes anchored in these categories will be better protected from cyclical disruption than those with greater exposure to discretionary retail.”

Sleep Country Canada Will Enter U.S. Through $702M Sleep Number Acquisition

Mattress and bedding retailer Sleep Country Canada will break into the U.S. market through its pending $702 million acquisition of Sleep Number, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. A federal bankruptcy judge has signed off on the deal, which is expected to close on July 31. Once the sale is finalized, Sleep Country will operate more than 570 U.S. stores under the Sleep Number banner, in addition to its 307 Canadian stores under the Sleep Country banner. “This is a game-changing acquisition,” said Sleep Country president and CEO Stewart Schaefer.

In June, Sleep Number said it was reviewing its footprint “with the intention of maintaining as many retail locations as possible based on profitability.” Real estate advisory firm A&G Real Estate Partners is helping guide the footprint evaluation.

French Fund Makes U.S. Retail Debut With North Carolina Strip Center

Principal Asset Management’s French real estate fund has entered the U.S. retail market with its purchase of a fully leased strip center in Charlotte, North Carolina, IPE Real Assets reported. The fund, Principal Inside SCPI, paid $12.4 million for the 86,620-square-foot University Place, whose tenants include Ross Dress for Less, Michaels, Office Depot, Guitar Center and America’s Best optical[MA1] . The Charlotte Business Journal identified the seller as Alto University Place, which bought the property for $12.1 million in 2021. University Place is the fund’s fourth U.S. real estate asset.

Strip Center Values Jump 9%, Outpacing 12 Other Property Types

Strip retail centers are the star of Green Street’s latest U.S. Commercial Property Price Index. According to the index, which reflects the 12-month period that ended in June, strip centers notched the biggest year-over-year gain in value among the 13 REIT-owned property types the Green Street index tracks. By comparison, mall values rose 5%, and values across all commercial properties increased 4.1%.

MORE FROM ICSC: Surprise! Unanchored Strip Centers Are Popular With Investors

CBRE Investment Management CIO Favors Mixed-Use Components Over the Whole

CBRE Investment Management’s Julie Ingersoll is a big fan of mixed-use settings but won’t buy an entire mixed-use property. During a recent episode of CBRE’s The Weekly Take podcast, the chief investment officer for CBRE Investment Management’s Americas direct real estate business explained: “One of your assets always underperforms the collective whole, so I love the mixed-use environment — I’ll buy the [multifamily] or the retail or the office [component] — but I will rarely buy the whole thing.” Ingersoll speaks from a position of authority: The business she oversees had more than $29 billion in assets under management as of December.