Canadian luggage retailer Monos opening new stores in the U.S.

Monos, the Canadian luggage, tote bags, accessories and apparel brand is opening new stores for the first time south of the Canada-U.S. border.

The brand recently opened a store in Boston on Newbury Street, another in Los Angeles on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice, and in Chicago's Fulton Market District (West Loop) on N. Morgan St.

Later we will see Monos stores opening in SoHo in New York City, in October, and then in December in Washington, D.C. on M St. NW, in a space that was formerly occupied by Atmos Sneakers.

The Chicago 2,800-sq.-ft.-location is a new concept for Monos called Postcard, which serves as the brand’s entrance into in-store food and beverage services with operating hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven-day-a-week.

The chain also operates two other stores in Canada; one in Vancouver and one in Toronto.

Monos had more than $150 million in sales last year with three-quarters of the revenue coming from the U.S. via online orders. The company was co-founded in 2018 by Victor Tam and Hubert Chan. Monos, prior to opening stores has been selling products online and shipping them all over the world.

The market for luggage has become much more competitive, according to Beth Goldstein, an industry analyst at Circana. Brands like Away, July, BÉIS and Dagne Dover are all competing with Samsonite, TravelPro and TUMI. There are others. CALPAK opened its first store at Westfield Century City in late 2024, and RIMOWA, which is owned by LVMH, has locations in Beverly Hills, Miami, New York City and San Francisco.

Read more: Canadian luggage brand Monos is opening its first stores in the U.S. (Modern Retail)

Pinstripes closes 10 stores amid bankruptcy filing

One of the most sought after tenants in the era where entertainment is vital to retail projects, Pinstripes Holdings, Inc. abruptly closed 10 of its 18 locations around the country this week.

The popular bowling-dining-entertainment chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware reporting about $162.9 million in assets and a little over $258.6 million in debt. The bankruptcy court is looking to sell the remaining locations as well as those closed, which could reopen under new ownership.

Locations shuttered include Walnut Creek, Calif. at Broadway Plaza, Chicago at River East / Streeterville, Orlando at the Vineland Pointe Plaza, Overland Park, Kan. at Prairiefire, Fort Worth in the Trailhead / Clearfork area, Houston, Texas at Kirby, Norwalk, Conn. at The SoNo Collection, and Paramus, N.J. at Westfield Garden State Plaza.

Locations still open are Pike & Rose in Bethesda, Md.; Georgetown in Washington, D.C.; San Mateo, Calif.; Cleveland, Ohio; Edina, Minn.; and in the Chicago area in Northbrook, Oak Brook, and South Barrington.

Pinstripes locations range between 26,000 and 38,000 square feet of interior space. The concept offers bowling alleys, indoor and outdoor dining, bocce courts, firepits and party venues. Each location can hold 900 guests, including 300 diners, according to court filings.

Pinstripes went public less than two years ago through Banyan Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company that spun off Pinstripes as a wholly owned subsidiary hoping to open as many as 150 units. Each location averages about $7.4 million in annual revenue, but its annual revenue has not been able to meet its debt service.

Read more: Pinstripes to file for bankruptcy, abruptly closes multiple locations (ABC 7 News - Chicago)

Sandwich shop Potbelly to be acquired

Throughout its 40-year history, Potbelly Sandwich Works has grown to 445 units—including more than 105 franchised shops—with the ultimate goal of expanding to 2,000 units.

That goal seemed far fetched until now. With an acquisition agreement signed by Potbelly’s board of directors this week, the sandwich chain can eventually more than quadruple its unit count but under new ownership by RaceTrac, Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the United States and a leading convenience store operator.

Under the terms of the agreement, Hero Sub Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of RaceTrac, will commence a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Potbelly in cash at a 47% premium to Potbelly’s 90-trading-day average share price. All of Potbelly’s directors and executive officers have agreed to tender their shares, representing approximately 11% of Potbelly’s outstanding common stock.

Potbelly first went public in 2013. As of the announcement, Potbelly brings to the deal signed agreements with franchisees to open 371 additional units notwithstanding the acquisition.

Hero Sub, Inc. is not an operational sandwich shop, but rather a temporary subsidiary that RaceTrac created for its acquisition of Potbelly. Upon completion of the acquisition, Hero Sub will merge into Potbelly, and Potbelly will continue to operate as a separate restaurant brand but as a wholly-owned subsidiary of RaceTrac.

RaceTrac operates more than 800 c-stores across 14 states under the RaceTrac and RaceWay brands, as well as operating approximately 1,200 Gulf-branded gas stations across the United States and Puerto Rico.

Potbelly President and CEO Robert "Bob" Wright told The Wall Street Journal, which first broke the story, that their strategy isn’t necessarily to put a Potbelly in every RaceTrac. RaceTrac appears to be moving away from a pure-play c-store operator and becoming more of a conglomerate of consumer brands.

Read more: Sandwich chain Potbelly looks to fuel expansion with new owner RaceTrac (CoStar News)

Customized pitch decks are key to leasing space to highly sought-after retailers

Leasing and marketing professionals are combining forces to create customized pitch decks to pursue the most sought-after retail tenants. These pitch decks are not generic mall promos; they focus solely on how a particular retailer or restaurant is suited to a specific shopping center location.

Highly desirable retailers already know the markets they want to be in, the types of retail locations they prefer, the co-tenancy they seek, and the customers they serve. They are often aware of where their customers live, shop and spend time, and they recognize the best, second best and worst-performing shopping centers in the trade areas where they intend to open new stores.

What they don’t necessarily know is how a specific shopping center aligns with their goals. They may know the basics: trade area by radius, center size, age and other details that are widely available through trade publications and other third-party data providers. The pitch deck should help prospects see how their store fits perfectly into a specific property, why it makes sense for the retailer’s expansion strategy, and why that shopping center is the best choice above all others.

Mobile location data now enables marketers to clearly illustrate marketplace gaps and brand penetration weaknesses. In creating pitch decks, marketers should gather location-based research that shows performance of the retailer’s other stores and how that relates to their center and the trade area in which that center is located. For example, demographics, annual household income data, length of shopper visits, visit frequency, trade area overlap, etc., should be included.

Another key selling point to include in a pitch desk is available from the Directory of Major Malls / ShoppingCenters.com. Its collaborative platform allows marketing professionals to define their shopping center’s top PRIZM Premier Segments (by Claritas), to identify the proper fit for retail tenancy.

“If you work in commercial real estate, shopping center management or retail leasing, (the guide recently published in ShoppingCenters.com) is your playbook for maximizing occupancy and attracting the right brands,” Tama Shor, publisher of Directory of Major Malls / ShoppingCenters.com wrote on a recent LinkedIn post. “Getting retailers like Nike, Lululemon, AllSaints and Warby Parker into your property isn’t luck — it’s strategy,” she added.

Read more: How to convince a retailer your shopping center is the right location to open a store (Directory of Major Malls)

Starbucks to spend $150,000 per store to refresh about 1,000 stores across the U.S.

Starbucks is slowing down major store renovations and development to redeploy about $150,000 per store in an effort to quickly upgrade about 1,000 stores across the U.S.

The program—underway already in the New York area and in Southern California—will be completed by the end of 2026. Most of these upgrades can be accomplished after store hours to avoid having to close stores down for construction.

The new minor renovations reverse Starbucks’ previous years’ decisions like removing seats in favor of mobile ordering for instore pickup and getting rid of outlets to discourage lingering. Seats with accessible electric outlets are being added as well as wood finishes, area rugs and warmer lighting. Brian Niccol said he plans to add back the 30,000 seats that Starbucks had removed from its cafes before he took over as the new CEO a year ago.

Dawn Clark, Starbucks senior vice president of coffeehouse design and concepts, said the new design is intended to encourage customers to stay longer, connect more and return often.

Read more: Starbucks wants its cafes to be more welcoming — and accessible. Take a look at a recent renovation (CNBC)

Is Dillard's recent JV acquisition of Longview Mall a new trend for retail companies?

Dillard's, with a market capitalization of $8.3 billion, has maximized revenue from its retail operations in a dwindling department store sector.

Its recent JV acquisition of Longview Mall with Trademark Property Company shows the company is looking for new revenue sources. Why not expand its business into real estate, particularly retail real estate, which is closely related to Dillard’s expertise and at the same time ensure the long-term potential of its good store locations?

Read more: Can Dillard’s save the mall? (Retail Dive)

Aldi and other retailers cater to value-focused middle class

Persistently high interest rates have driven the U.S. middle class—generally considered to include households making $53,000 to $161,000 a year—to trade down on their purchases and shop at discounters.

Many stores and restaurants recognize this trend and are catering to these customers with specials including IHOP, McDonald's and Walmart.

The three most rapidly expanding chains in 2025: ALDI USA and the two big dollar-store chains.

Aldi is now the third-largest grocery chain by store count in the U.S., with more than 2,500 locations. Nearly half of this year’s 200 store openings will be conversions of former Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket locations. Aldi acquired the two chains in 2023.

Aldi plans to open more than 800 additional stores by the end of 2028.

Aldi is smaller than a traditional American grocery store and to deliver low prices, about 90% of the items it sells are private label merchandise. Aldi store sizes tend to fall in the 12,000–20,000 sq. ft. range while traditional supermarkets are about 40,000 sq. ft. or larger. Aldi carries around 1,400 items, versus about 40,000 at traditional supermarkets.

Supermarkets are very different from big-box formats like Walmart Supercenters ~ 178,000 sq. ft. (range 69K–260K sq. ft.) or Costco Wholesale ~ 140,000 sq. ft. (range 76K–240K sq. ft.) vastly larger.

The “Aldi Finds” aisle is a rotating hodgepodge of discounted items, similar to its competitor Lidl US, another German grocery chain expanding in the U.S.

Aldi’s appeal is similar to the “treasure hunt” shopping experience at discount retailers such as The TJX Companies, Inc. store brands, Burlington Stores, Inc. and Five Below, which have also been opening many new stores in the 2020s.

Read more: Aldi Wants to Conquer the American Grocery Store Landscape (The Wall Street Journal)

Restaurants adjust menus to cater to preference for chicken dishes and declining profits for beef products

Chicken per capita consumption overtook beef back in 1993, according to Technomic, Inc., and today, the USDA estimates people eat about twice the amount of chicken in the U.S. than beef or pork.

Some cite costs and health reasons for the changes in preferences but definitely costs have increased significantly in recent times to push restaurants to provide more chicken menu choices because beef is less profitable. Around 93% of restaurant operators of all kinds include chicken on their menus.

Sales at chicken chains grew 8.9% in 2024 compared with 2023, while burger restaurant chain sales grew 1.4%, according to Technomic. Chicken now delivers more than $53 billion in annual sales for U.S. fast-food restaurants that specialize in poultry.

Chick-fil-A Restaurants’ multilane drive-throughs concept has made the chain, the third-biggest U.S. restaurant chain by domestic sales. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen launched its own version of the Chick-fil-A sandwich in 2019, kicking off fast food’s chicken sandwich wars, and chains from McDonald's to Shake Shack hustled to add their own.

Now, Taco Bell is developing a whole menu of crispy chicken tacos, burritos and nuggets, and Wendy's is launching new tenders later this year. McDonald’s rolled out its own chicken tenders in May, and afterwards added chicken Snack Wraps.

Hot spicy chicken chains are growing their footprints too. Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers’s, with its chicken fingers-centric menu, aims to add 100 locations this year. Wingstop Restaurants Inc. in February launched crispy tenders to its menu and will open approximately 435 to 460 net new stores in 2025 by year-end.

Read more: Welcome to the Fast-Food Industry’s Crispy Chicken Summer (The Wall Street Journal)

Will Texas Roadhouse ramp up expansion of Bubba's 33 and Jaggers?

One of the best moderately priced dining concepts you can add to a retail property is Texas Roadhouse, a fast growing 673-unit steakhouse chain that has been opening about 30 restaurants a year.

But did you know that the publicly-traded company also operates two other concepts Bubba's 33 (a sports bar concept) and Jaggers (a fast casual concept offering burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads and shakes)? Both of these concepts are doing phenomenally well. Just last year, Bubba’s systemwide sales leapt more than 20%, and Jaggers rose 58%, according to Technomic, Inc. data.

With numbers like that, the company is poised to ramp up expansion in what has been a very conservative approach in recent years. Bubba’s opened four locations in 2024 and will add seven in 2025. Jaggers, meanwhile, has opened just 15 restaurants over the past 10 years.

Jerry Morgan, Texas Roadhouse, Inc. CEO, noting that the pipeline for Texas Roadhouse is still strong as well, suggests that the company is clearly starting to tip in the direction of further expanding Bubba's 33 and Jaggers.

Read more: Texas Roadhouse to ramp up development of its smaller concepts (Restaurant Business)

Warby Parker plans to open 45 new stores in 2025

Warby Parker continues to do well in its 300 brick-and-mortar stores with plans to open 45 new stores in 2025, including five shop-in-shops within Target stores. The stores do an average of $3,000 per square foot, rivaling sales performance of Tiffany & Co. and Apple. Warby Parker stores fall within the 900–1,800 sq. ft. range, with an average near 1,600 sq. ft.

The company expects net revenue growth of 14% to 15% this year.

Read more: Warby Parker to end home try-on program as it focuses on stores, digital experience (Retail Dive)

Online furniture retailer Wayfair to have four big-box stores operating in the U.S. by 2027

Looking to replace a vacant department store? Wayfair might just be the answer.

Online furniture retailer Wayfair opened its first 150,000-sq.-ft. store last year and has already announced plans to have four big-box stores operating in the U.S. by 2027.

The first Wayfair physical store opened at Eden’s Plaza in Wilmette, Illinois near Chicago in 2024. Since then, Wayfair has announced plans to open a 150,000-sq.-ft. store at Howell Mill shopping center in Atlanta, a 114,000-sq.-ft. store at the Ridge Hill shopping center in Yonkers, N.Y., and a 140,000-sq.-ft. store at The Shops of Northfield in Denver. The Ridge Hill store will open in a vacant Lord & Taylor site in 2027. The Northfield store will be built out in a vacant Macy’s location, and has a late 2026 target opening date.

Northfield is a 1.1-million-square-foot open-air mall anchored by Bass Pro Shops, a Harkins movie theater and a Target store. The new Wayfair store will anchor the north side of the project with access from Northfield Blvd. SRS Real Estate Partners and Newmark arranged the transaction.

While the home furnishings category continues to be dragged down by sluggish home sales in the United States because of persistent elevated interest rates, Wayfair reported yesterday unexpected profit in the second quarter as top line sales rose in the U.S. by 5.3%.

Wayfair’s global revenue was up 6% when excluding sales related to its exit from the German market. This would make it the company’s best growth rate since early 2021 before interest rates spiked sending sales spiraling downwards.

Read more: Home decor giant opening store in Colorado (9News - Colorado)

Urban Outfitters will launch new Maeve store concept; first store in Raleigh, N.C.

Anthropologie has launched a new store concept based on its popular private label branded merchandise called Maeve.

The first Maeve store will open Oct. 1 in Raleigh, N.C., according to Anu Narayanan, president of Anthropologie women’s and home. The store will be located in the open-air lifestyle center The Village District.

Maeve's customer appeal is rooted in its accessible yet upscale pricing, with styles that blend casual Generation Z sensibilities and office-ready looks. Genzers (individuals born roughly between 1997 and 2012) are now the most important up-and-coming generation of consumers comprising one fifth of all U.S. consumers. Gen Z's global spending power is expected to grow to $12.6T by 2030.

Read more: Anthropologie launches sub-brand Maeve as a new standalone brand (Glossy)

PopUp Bagels plans to open 300 stores throughout 10 states

Adam Goldberg, founder of PopUp Bagels has an ambitious 300-store plan to expand the chain throughout 10 states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, California and Maine — with the goal to reach 100 open locations by the end of 2027.

PopUp Bagels plans to reach this milestone with fewer than 15 franchise partners. Tory Bartlett, MBA, CEO of PopUp Bagels is partnering with some of the most accomplished franchise operators in the industry to expand the chain.

PopUp Bagels is unique in that it sells no sandwiches; all bagels are served hot from the oven, unsliced.

Read more: PopUp Bagels to Open 300 Stores Nationwide (Retail & Restaurant Facility Business)

Trader Joe's to open 30 new locations in 2025

Trader Joe's has announced 30 new locations opening in 2025 across 18 states:

Arizona
- Goodyear — N. Bullard Ave & McDowell Rd
California
- La Verne — 2330 Foothill Boulevard
- Northridge — 9224 Reseda Boulevard
- Yucaipa – 31545 Yucaipa Boulevard
Colorado
- Westminster — 9350 Sheridan Boulevard
Connecticut
- Shelton — 801 Bridgeport Avenue
Washington, D.C.
- Friendship Heights — 5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Florida
- Daytona Beach — 1511 Cornerstone Boulevard
Georgia
- Peachtree City – 258 City Circle
Louisiana
- New Orleans — 2428 Napoleon Avenue
- New Orleans — 2501 Tulane Avenue
Massachusetts
- Boston — 1999 Centre Street
- Newton — 1165 Needham Street
Missouri
- Columbia — 201 N. Stadium Boulevard
New Jersey
- Iselin — 675 US-1
New York
- Glenmont — 388 Feura Bush Road
- Miller Place — 302 NY-25A Miller Place
- Staten Island — 6400 Amboy Road
Oklahoma
- Broken Arrow — 1451 E. Hillside Drive
- Oklahoma City — 6920 Northwest Expressway
Oregon
- Gresham — 2083 NE Burnside Road
Pennsylvania
- Berwyn — 550 Lancaster Avenue
- Exton — 125 West Lincoln Highway
South Carolina
- Myrtle Beach — 115 SayeBrook Parkway
Texas
- Bee Cave — 12812 Shops Parkway
- McKinney — 8101 El Dorado Parkway
- San Antonio — 11745 I-10 West
Utah
- Holladay — 1895 East Rodeo Walk Drive
- Riverdale — 4060 Riverdale Road, Suite B
Virginia
- Virginia Beach — 220 Constitution Drive

Read more: Trader Joe’s opening 30 new locations across 18 states: Here’s where (MSN)

Landlord asset managers look for ways to increase revenue as retail occupancy exceeds 96%

With retail occupancy roving around 96%, asset managers face a major challenge that defies their mandate: continually growing rental income on what is essentially a fully occupied and stabilized property. Increasingly, they are turning to alternative uses and non-traditional on-site methods to grow ancillary income that differ from a property's primary purpose (rent growth from long-term leases of leasable space). Some examples:

- RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust launched the Spacewise Next Generation Property Marketing Portal, which categorizes and catalogues just about every possible way a landlord can promote opportunities for brands and other businesses, according to RioCan's John McKinnon and Meredith Vlitas, MES.

- DLC Management Corp. is leasing the roof space to Radial Power LLC for solar installations at open-air centers for lucrative rents aided by federal, state and local incentives, according to DLC's Chris Ressa.

- Electrify America seeks 10-year leases with options for parking lot EV chargers that not only bring income to landlords but also generate retail sales for the center's stores and restaurants, according to Electrify America's Brandy Mathie.

Read more: Beyond Rent: Retail asset managers turn to ancillary income to grow revenue streams (Shopping Center Business)

British luxury mattress maker to open 17 new U.S. Vispring-branded stores in 2025

Vispring Ltd, a British maker of luxury mattresses is expanding throughout the U.S. with 17 new Vispring-branded stores opening in 2025. The first store opened in Corona Del Mar (Newport Beach, California) in January, with additional store-showrooms in SoHo (New York City) and at the Dallas Design Center, which opened this month making six store showrooms now open in the U.S., considering the brand is already 124 years old. More openings this fall will be in Denver, Washington, D.C. and San Diego. Vispring mattresses are also sold at other stores.

According to Martin Gill, managing director of Vispring, the American market's reception to (Vispring's products supports the expansion) in key metropolitan areas (in the U.S.).

In addition to the U.S. market, Vispring sells its handcrafted mattresses throughout 58 countries. Now owned by The Flex Group in Spain, Vispring is a sister company to E.S. Kluft & Co., maker of Kluft mattresses.

Read more: U.K. bed maker with $100K-plus mattress picks D-FW for new store (The Dallas Morning News)

Multifamily continues to drive mall expansions

Valuations of enclosed malls have generally declined over the past 10 years when lenders provided mortgage loans and packaged them through securitized debt investor offerings, some of which cannot be refinanced at those levels today, given the lower valuations and higher lending costs.

But, the darling of commercial real estate today is MULTIFAMILY, not retail. When malls add multifamily, the combined retail-residential valuations in those properties increase tremendously because there is considerable demand for rental residential properties in the U.S. driven by organic population growth and immigration.

Certainly, Rick J. Caruso understood that when he was building The Americana at Brand 20 years ago in Glendale, Calif. Simon Property Group and Brookfield Properties have also been adding residential to malls in recent years. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has been very focused on this trend with a strategy to add multifamily at Westfield Montgomery in Bethesda, Md., Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, N.J. and Westfield Old Orchard in Chicagoland.

The first residential property to be developed on a Westfield retail property in the U.S. is the massive Palisade at Westfield’s University Towne Center (UTC) in San Diego, a 23-story luxury residential high rise that was built as part of a full-scale revitalization of the mall completed post-Covid.

URW will likely offload a few more U.S. malls in the foreseeable future just like it did with Westfield San Francisco Centre. Earlier this year, it defaulted on a $234.6 million loan on Westfield Shoppingtown Wheaton Plaza in Wheaton, Maryland.

While URW continues to whittle down the number of American malls it owns, the company is likely to keep the most valuable A++ properties with redevelopment potential. When it comes to owning malls, URW, the French owner of many of the world’s best malls has a strategy that can be characterized as "moins, mais mieux,” or “less, but better.”

Read more: Less, but better: Inside URW’s US mall strategy (CoStar News)

Alphabet Inc. continues to open Google branded stores

Alphabet Inc. continues to open Google Stores, although at a slow and measured pace.

In 2025, new Google Stores opened at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and at the Domain NORTHSIDE in Austin with a third under construction at Aventura Mall north of Miami and a fourth in Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood.

In 2024, a Google Store opened on Newbury Street in Boston and one in Oakbrook Center near Chicago. The new stores to open later this year makes nine for Google, not counting pop-ups that previously opened and closed. Google's first permanent retail store opened in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City in June 2021.

All except the Aventura interior mall location have exterior entrances. Sizes range from 2,257 sq. ft. for the Domain store to as high as 7,000 sq. ft. for the Georgetown store where the company signed a 10-year lease with EastBanc. JLL was the tenant rep for Google in the lease transaction with EastBanc.

The Google Store typically sells Google devices, accessories and merchandise, including Google phones and Chromebooks. The Georgetown store will also have on-site device repair, trade-ins and support for device installation, setup and troubleshooting, similar to the Apple Stores.

Unlike Apple, which runs its own stores, the Google stores are operated by
Mosaic North America, which hires staff and handles inventory and transactions. Mosaic has been operating Google Stores since its first pop-up opened in 2016.

The Google Store is planning an international expansion with large ~15,000 sq. ft. locations planned for New Delhi and Mumbai possibly in 2026. It appears like the physical retail presence for Google Store rollout is working and more will be announced soon.

Read more: The eighth Google Store will be in Miami (9to5Google)

Levi Strauss & Co.'s Beyond Yoga opening more stores

Watch out lululemon and Athleta: Competition is coming your way.

Levi Strauss & Co.'s specialty activewear brand Beyond Yoga is moving forward with its brick-and-mortar expansion. The company opened its first East Coast store today (06-06-2025) in Greenwich, Conn.

The new store is about 2,700 square feet, which is double the average size of Beyond Yoga’s other seven other locations: Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Larchmont Village in L.A., Irvine Company Spectrum Center, Westfield Century City, Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek, Chicago's Fulton Market and Bellevue Square near Seattle.

Levi Strauss & Co. bought Beyond Yoga in 2021. Other Beyond Yoga locations planned include Westport, Conn. at the Elm & Main shopping center, formerly known as Brooks Corner and one will open later this year in Boston.

Leading the expansion is Nancy Green, Beyond Yoga's CEO who previously oversaw Athleta as it grew from 39 to 175 stores. Beyond Yoga is expanding from 8 to 14 by the end of the 2025.

Earlier this year Green said the brand could have "at least 200 stores" over time. The newly opened larger format store will allow Beyond Yoga to carry an expanded line of inventory as well as hold events. She said, "We have to iterate and tweak some things as we learn and then we nail it, and then we scale it. So test, iterate, nail it and scale it."

Read more: Exclusive: Beyond Yoga is planting roots on the East Coast with a new Connecticut store (Modern Retail)

Variety Wholesalers, Inc. has reopened 219 Big Lots stores

Variety Wholesalers, Inc. will reopen 78 Big Lots stores this week throughout Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

It’s part of a deal with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners that was inked earlier this year through which Variety Wholesale Partners bought 219 Big Lots store leases under bankruptcy. This week’s openings complete a phased reopening strategy that began in April.

Variety now operates 422 stores across 18 states under retail banners such as Roses Discount Stores, Roses Express, Maxway and now Big Lots.

Read more: Nearly 80 Big Lots stores reopen this week across multiple states (Fox Business)