Department store chain Bloomingdale’s, owned by Macy’s Inc., is launching a smaller, more curated concept called Bloomie’s. “Bloomie’s has always been a term of affection from our loyal customers,” said Bloomingdale’s CEO Tony Spring. “Our new Bloomie’s store will deliver everything they love about Bloomingdale’s in a highly edited, convenient and unexpected way.”

The first Bloomie’s will open Aug. 26 at Edens’ Mosaic District in Fairfax, Virginia. The store will feature a returns drop box, in-store and curbside pickup for online orders, an alterations service and a Colada Shop restaurant. Bloomingdale’s operates two other flagships in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.: Chevy Chase, Maryland’s Wisconsin Place and Virginia’s Tysons Corner Center.

Bloomingdale’s hopes the new stores will strengthen Bloomingdale’s market share where it already has flagships, providing an alternative, possibly closer-to-home destination for consumers to shop, make returns and pick up online orders.

Bloomingdale’s has operated select smaller stores for years, though not as small as the 22,000-square-foot Bloomie’s concept. Bloomingdale’s SoHo in Manhattan and Bloomingdale’s in Los Angeles’ Glendale Galleria both are about 80,000 square feet. Bloomingdale’s flagship stores range from 120,000 to 250,000 square feet.

Meanwhile, Macy’s Inc. is pressing restart on another of its small-format efforts. The first Market by Macy’s, which opened in Texas’ Southlake Town Square in February 2020, will close tomorrow. The company plans to renovate the 20,000-square-foot off-mall space and reopen in the fall, calling the store’s run thus far “a learning opportunity.” Market by Macy’s also has a store in Fort Worth, Texas, and has been signing leases for locations like South Point, south of Atlanta, and Highlands of Flower Mound north of Dallas and Fort Worth.

29 more retailers making news

Walgreens Boots Alliance and VillageMD plan 29 more Village Medical at Walgreens practices this year in Houston, Austin and El Paso, Texas. The partners aim for at least 600 such primary care practices in more than 30 U.S. markets over the next four years and hundreds more after that. Walgreens Boots Alliance previously invested $1 billion in VillageMD to integrate Walgreens pharmacy services with onsite primary care physicians, though the practices also can facilitate at-home and telehealth visits. At the same time, Walgreens has expanded its same-day prescription-delivery service through almost all its locations, except in California.

Digital beauty brand Glossier will venture back into the physical retail realm after closing its New York City flagship during the pandemic. It will open three stores this year — in London, Los Angeles and Seattle — after securing $80 million in Series E funding from investors led by Lone Pine Capital. Glossier eventually wants to operate dozens of U.S. stores.

Department store Belk promoted president and chief merchandising officer Nir Patel to CEO. Prior to working at Belk, Patel was senior vice president for Kohl’s and vice president at Land’s End. He also worked at Abercrombie & Fitch, Target and Gap. Patel replaces Lisa Harper, who had been CEO since July 2016 and now is executive chair. The retailer, which has 291 stores, recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Tom’s Watch Bar wants to add 20 locations over the next two years, and the restaurant and sports bar has retained CBRE to lead the effort. The concept offers a 360-degree viewing room and oversized stadium screens. Target locations will be near professional sports stadiums, entertainment complexes, tourist centers and other high-traffic areas, starting with major markets like Boston, Miami, Orlando, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix and San Diego. Tom’s has six locations and has signed four leases this year: Washington, D.C., near Nationals Park; D.C. near Capital One Arena; Minneapolis, adjacent to Target Center and Target Field; and Sacramento, California, next to the Golden 1 Center.

A former Stein Mart merchandise buyer has opened a 7,134-square-foot, four-month pop-up shop called NYC Sample Sale at Jacksonville, Florida’s Markets at Town Center to sell discounted women’s apparel brands like Vince Camuto.

Plus-size teen fashion chain Torrid raised $230 million in an IPO that values the company at $2.3 billion. Private equity firm Sycamore Partners will retain control of the Hot Topic spinoff. Torrid, which operates 608 stores, plans to use the funds to open 25 stores per year and grab a bigger share of the “$85 billion U.S. women’s plus-size apparel and intimates market.” Torrid also plans to invest in Torrid Curve, a line of activewear, loungewear and sleepwear.

Wonder Cleveland — a museum of immersive environments and selfie-friendly backdrops that has opened in the former H&M in Mentor, Ohio’s Great Lakes Mall — hopes to expand to other malls.

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Dollar General has more stores than any other North American retailer that sells food and beverage, according to Supermarket News’ Top 50 Retailers survey. The retailer has 17,266 stores, up from 16,368 in 2020. Dollar Tree ranked second, with 15,685 stores, up from 15,288 in 2020. Seven & i Holdings, which operates 7-Elevens, ranked third with 13,839 stores, up from 9,631in 2020. Alimentation Couche-Tard ranked fourth with 9,978 stores, CVS fifth with 9,960 stores and Walgreens sixth with 9,021 stores. Walmart/Sam’s Club has 5,342 stores, Kroger 2,742, Rite Aid 2,510 and Loblaw Cos. 2,439. The only other food-and-beverage retailers with at least 2,000 locations were Albertsons, at 2,277 and Aldi U.S., at 2,070.

Sports team apparel retailer Rally House is making a growth play. It has 100 stores, has opened 14 this year and plans another 15 by year’s end.

Hibbett Sports, which operates more than 1,070 stores, is growing in the Carolinas. This month, it will open a 4,200-square-foot Hibbett Sports store in Garner, North Carolina, and a 4,600-square-foot City Gear in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Target is developing a 117,000-square-foot store on the site of a dormant former Kmart in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Seritage Growth Properties sold the site to the retailer in late June for $5 million.

Filipino chicken fast-food chain Jollibee has 234 more stores planned for North America. In 2021 alone, the brand will open 28 stores, including in Times Square, downtown Chicago and Vancouver. The company aims to penetrate markets with large concentrations of Filipino Americans.

This fall at Bayer Properties’ Summit in Birmingham, Alabama, American Eagle will open a 4,200-square-foot store for activewear concept Offline by Aerie. The store will sit beside an Aerie lingerie store that will open at the same time. The first Offline by Aerie opened in November, and American Eagle plans to open 25 to 30 this year.

California Pizza Kitchen co-founder Rick Rosenfield and senior vice president of development Steve Rich have cooked up an upscale pizza concept called Roca, inspired by Rome’s al taglio, street-food style pizza. After launching with a pop-up at Caruso’s Americana at Brand in Glendale, California, Roca will open this fall at Caruso’s Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades, California.

This summer, Stoney Clover Lane — which sells customizable pouches, duffels, backpacks, luggage tags, passport cases, phone cases, notebooks and laptop cases —will move in to the downtown Nashville space formerly occupied by Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop. Stoney Clover Lane opened its first store on Manhattan’s Bleecker Street in 2019 and has stores in Palm Beach, Florida; East Hampton, New York; Newport Beach, California; and New Orleans.

Home furnishings retailer Arhaus expanded its store at SouthPark mall, in Charlotte, North Carolina, by 30% to 10,135 square feet. Arhaus opened the store in 2018. The retailer operates 70 stores across the U.S.

Natural and organic specialty supermarket operator Fresh Thyme Market plans to open a new concept in St. Louis this year that will feature at least 1,000 products made locally. The company, which operates 70 stores across the Midwest, is collaborating with sourcing platform RangeMe to locate hyperlocal brands.

Wilson’s first physical store will open this month on Rush Street in Chicago in 2,247 square feet formerly occupied by Vineyard Vines, next to Lululemon. Wilson expects to add stores in Chicago, but first it will open in New York and Los Angeles within the next few months.