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4 Retail Footprint Updates, Including Gong Cha’s Goal of 1,000 U.S. Stores
Phillips Edison Raises 2026 Grocery-Anchored Acquisition Target to $500M-$600M
Amazon/Whole Foods, Costco and Walmart Lead U.S. Grocery Market Share Gains
Tampa Bay Rays Plan 400K SF of Retail, Dining and Entertainment in Proposed Stadium District
Toronto and Vancouver Posted North America’s Lowest Retail Vacancy Rates in Q2 2026
4 Retail Footprint Updates, Including Gong Cha’s Goal of 1,000 U.S. Stores
Retailer expansions keep coming. Bubble tea chain Gong Cha signed a 50-store Texas franchise deal as it eyes 1,000 U.S. locations, Regions Bank plans as many as 150 new branches alongside 1,000 renovations, and thrift shop franchiser BaseCamp is on pace to open more than 30 Uptown Cheapskate and Kid to Kid stores this year. Cracker Barrel is the outlier, selling more than 60 locations — including a $77 million sale-leaseback of 26 restaurants — as part of efforts to shore up its balance sheet amid a financial turnaround.
Gong Cha Targets 50 Texas Stores on Path to 1,000 U.S. Locations
Taiwanese-style bubble tea chain Gong Cha is more than doubling its Texas footprint. Under a new agreement, franchisee Bakers Acres & Cattle Co. will open 50 stores in the Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio markets over the next seven years. Bakers Acres & Cattle also operates Nothing Bundt Cakes stores. A Gong Cha spokesperson said the chain has 33 stores in Texas. They’re among the more than 240 stores in the U.S., and Gong Cha is working toward a nationwide store count of 1,000. In March, Gong Cha said it acquired the rights to 170 locations in 13 states from a master franchisee.
MORE FROM C+CT: Asian Retail Brands Are Chasing Space in the U.S. Here’s How They’re Setting Up Shop
The Gong Cha bubble tea chain, which recently revealed its 2.0 store design, is targeting a 1,000-store footprint in the U.S. Rendering above and at top courtesy of Gong Cha/PR Newswire
BaseCamp Expects 30+ Uptown Cheapskate and Kid to Kid Openings in 2026
The franchiser of Uptown Cheapskate and Kid to Kid upscale thrift stores is on track to open more than 30 new locations this year. BaseCamp Franchising already opened 16 in the first half, including the company’s 300th location, and it has signed more than 35 new franchise agreements this year. BaseCamp co-CEO Tyler Gordon told C+CT he sees “massive potential” to grow the Uptown Cheapskate and Kid to Kid brands in the U.S. and other countries. “If anything, we feel we’re still in the early stages of growth and penetration,” said Gordon.
Uptown Cheapskate is one of the two thrift store brands owned by BaseCamp Franchising. Photo courtesy of BaseCamp Franchising
Regions Bank Will Open as Many as 150 New Branches, Using Data To Guide Site Selection
As it executes a five-year plan to open 135 to 150 branches, Regions Bank has turned to in-house technology to help guide site selection. Head of consumer banking Kate Danella told C+CT that the regional bank developed a proprietary, data-driven system to track population growth and migration trends in real time so it can invest in the right markets. “As more routine transactions become digital, our branches are increasingly becoming places for advice, problem-solving and relationship-building,” Danella said. “These new and modernized locations will help us deliver that experience while continuing to meet customers where they live, work and play.”
Regions’ expansion targets include the Atlanta area, Florida and Tennessee, president and CEO John Turner said this spring at the RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference. Today, Regions operates about 1,250 branches in 15 states. The bank plans to consolidate some branches as part of the five-year program, leaving a footprint close to the current size, a spokesperson said. A typical branch measures about 4,400 square feet, while new builds will be roughly 2,650 square feet.
Regions also plans to renovate about 1,000 existing branches, Danella said.
Cracker Barrel Sells 26 Restaurants and Divests 35 Maple Street Locations
Cracker Barrel, which is transitioning to a new CEO, has been selling assets as part of its financial turnaround. It recently netted about $77 million through a sale-leaseback deal that offloaded 26 company-owned restaurants to an institutional real estate investor. In addition, Cracker Barrel sold 35 Maple Street Biscuit Co. locations to breakfast chain Biscuit Belly and is closing the remaining 19 Maple Street stores. Cracker Barrel said it executed the sale-leaseback to reduce debt and sold Maple Street to sharpen the focus on its cornerstone brand. Biscuit Belly said it will convert the 35 locations it acquired by 2028, which will bring its footprint to more than 60 locations nationwide.
Cracker Barrel sold 26 company-owned locations in a $77 million sale-leaseback deal. Photo credit: LB Photo Co - stock.adobe.com
Phillips Edison Raises 2026 Grocery-Anchored Acquisition Target to $500M-$600M
Phillips Edison & Co., which owns and operates grocery-anchored retail centers, has raised its fiscal-year-2026 acquisition forecast from $400 million to $500 million to $500 million to $600 million. During the first half, Phillips Edison’s purchase activity approached $278 million. As of June 30, the REIT managed 33.9 million square feet spanning 302 wholly owned properties and 28 owned through joint ventures.
Amazon/Whole Foods, Costco and Walmart Lead U.S. Grocery Market Share Gains
The five chains that grew their U.S. grocery market share the most in the past year are not legacy grocers. According to market research firm Numerator’s reporting of year-over-year gains for the 12 months that ended June 30, Amazon/Whole Foods saw a 0.6-percentage-point bump in market share, followed by wholesale club Costco at 0.4, mass retailer Walmart at 0.3 and discounter Aldi and specialty grocer Trader Joe’s at 0.2 each. Numerator tracks the 15 largest grocers based on their share of the grocery market. The 10 other grocery sellers tracked by Numerator notched flat or negative growth; they include legacy grocers Albertsons Cos., Kroger Co., Publix, H-E-B, Ahold Delhaize USA and Wakefern.
Whole Foods opened this 40,000-square-foot store last month in Seekonk, Massachusetts. Photo courtesy of Whole Foods
Numerator noted Kroger’s proposed $1.65 billion acquisition of Giant Eagle would raise Kroger’s share of the U.S. grocery market from 8.3% to 8.7%, bumping Costco to third place among grocers as measured by current market share.
Tampa Bay Rays Plan 400K SF of Retail, Dining and Entertainment in Proposed Stadium District
Fresh details have emerged about the proposed mixed-use district to be built adjacent to the Tampa Bay Rays’ new baseball stadium in Tampa, Florida. The 113-acre, more than 8 million-square-foot district would include about 400,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment space, the MLB team said. A new campus for Hillsborough College would anchor what Fox 13 reported would be a $1 billion development; plans also call for office, residential and hotel space. USA Today reported the ballpark’s estimated cost is $2.3 billion. Funding for the mixed-use project remains to be worked out, and a land-use agreement between Hillsborough College and the city of Tampa is still needed, according to Fox 13. The district and ballpark are set to open in 2029.
MORE FROM C+CT: Where Fans, Food and Foot Traffic Meet: Stadium Districts’ Retail Appeal
Hillsborough College will anchor the more than 8 million-square-foot stadium district proposed by the MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays. Rendering courtesy of Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto and Vancouver Posted North America’s Lowest Retail Vacancy Rates in Q2 2026
Canada’s two largest retail markets — Toronto and Vancouver — posted North America’s lowest vacancy rates in the second quarter, according to Lee & Associates’ Q2 2026 Retail Overview. The retail vacancy rate was 2.2% in Toronto and 2.6% in Vancouver, the report said. “Neighborhood and strip retail centers are clear outperformers lately,” the report said of the Canadian market. In Canada, Lee & Associates’ quarterly retail review tracks the Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary markets. The report showed the lowest U.S. vacancy rates in the second quarter were 2.7% in Minneapolis, 2.8% in Boston and 2.9% in Miami; the nationwide vacancy rate was 4.4%.
By John Egan
Contributor, Commerce + Communities Today