New Stores

Baltimore's Mondawmin Mall will be expanding with three new stores in newly constructed space that will replace the former Motor Vehicles Administration building, the mall announced today. A Ross Dress for Less, a Deal$ and a smaller, yet-to-be-named store will move into a 38,000-square-foot redevelopment on the site of the MVA building, which is being demolished. “Mondawmin Mall has been an integral part of the Greater Mondawmin community for more than 50 years,"  said Romaine Smallwood-Smoot, the mall's general manager, in a statement.

Development has been under way for years on the 809-acre Turf Valley property near Ellicott City, but one of the key parcels will get a high-profile addition next week when a new 48,000-square-foot Harris Teeter supermarket opens Tuesday in Turf Valley Towne Square on Resort Road. "We're very excited," said Louis Mangione of Mangione Family Enterprises, the Lutherville-based firm that owns Turf Valley. "We made a point of getting someone like Harris Teeter, who is new and exciting, and we think they're going to be a tremendous asset to the community.

Revco D.S. Inc. will blitz the Baltimore area with eight new stores in the next several months, creating about 100 jobs and setting the stage for a pharmaceutical feud with Rite-Aid, Giant and others.The nation's second-largest drug store chain intends to open two stores in early July at 5501 Park Heights Ave. and 900 Edmondson Ave., both in the city, the company announced yesterday.In August, two stores will open at 5407 Harford Road in the city and at Liberty and Rolling roads in western Baltimore County.

Baltimore's Mondawmin Mall will be expanding with three new stores in newly constructed space that will replace the former Motor Vehicles Administration building, the mall announced today. A Ross Dress for Less, a Deal$ and a smaller, yet-to-be-named store will move into a 38,000-square-foot redevelopment on the site of the MVA building, which is being demolished. “Mondawmin Mall has been an integral part of the Greater Mondawmin community for more than 50 years,"  said Romaine Smallwood-Smoot, the mall's general manager, in a statement.

Construction crews were already at work yesterday as owners of Glen Burnie Mall announced the addition of two stores and a face lift for the 32-year-old shopping center.The new stores -- Dick's Clothing & Sporting Goods and ImagiMAZE Family Fun Center -- are scheduled to open by fall.The remodeling of the 414,469-square-foot mall is expected to be finished for the Christmas shopping season.The mall is owned by Youngstown, Ohio-based DeBartolo Realty Corp., a real estate investment trust. The Glen Burnie project is part of the company's plan to renovate and expand five other properties, from Seattle to Coral Springs, Fla., said Kenneth H. Lokiec, vice president of shopping center operations.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. yesterday reported a sharp jump in first-quarter earnings, driven by the strong performance of its new stores and surging sales in its men's clothing line.Income from continuing operations rose 89 percent, to $828,000 for the quarter ended May 2 from $437,000 in the same period a year ago, the Hampstead-based retailer said.Operating earnings doubled to 12 cents per share in the quarter, compared with 6 cents a year earlier. The latest figure beat analysts' expectations of 8 cents per share.

Under Armour's New Year's resolution: Make it a rebuilding year. The Baltimore company, known for its athletic clothing that wicks sweat from the body, will open 15 new outlet stores, revamp its running shoes, upgrade its information technology systems, invest in its Web business and focus more on designing new products. But all the new investment also means that spending and costs will outpace revenue growth, Brad Dickerson, Under Armour's chief financial officer, said in a quarterly earnings conference call with analysts Tuesday.

HOME DEPOT'S plan to build a new store at Reisterstown Road Plaza amounts to the retail chain's recognition of this reality: Even as Baltimore City's overall population declines, the northwest area straddling the city-county line shows steady growth of well-to-do residents. Watch out; it's just the beginning. Plans on the drawing board include: Redevelopment of Arundel Corp.'s former 255-acre quarry along Greenspring Avenue into a lakeside community of 40 single-family homes, 100 townhouses and 459 multifamily units.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. saw earnings dip 12 percent in the second quarter, the Hampstead-based men's apparel retailer reported yesterday.The chain reported net income from continuing operations of $526,000, or 8 cents per share, compared with $597,000, or 9 cents per share, during the corresponding period a year ago. It attributed the decline to costs of operating new stores, increased advertising to sell leftover spring inventory and becoming Y2K...

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. plans to accelerate its growth by opening twice as many new stores as it originally planned over the next three years, the men's clothing retailer said yesterday.The Hampstead-based company plans to open 65 more stores nationwide. Most will add to Bank's existing base of 87 stores in 31 states, but some will replace older stores. The expansion would accelerate the pace of 10 to 12 new stores per year that the company had previously planned."There's a greater demand for us," Timothy F. Finley, Bank chairman and chief executive officer, said yesterday.

Aldi Supermarket will hold a hiring event Friday in Aberdeen in preparation for the opening of its new store later this year. The hiring event will be held from 6 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express, 1007 Beards Hill Road in Aberdeen. Aldi is looking to fill positions such as cashier, shift manager and manager trainee, the company said in a media advisory for the event. Pay rates quoted in the advisory are $12 hourly for cashier, $16.25 hourly for shift manager and $25 per hour for manager trainee.

  Weis Markets will unveil a remodeled store in Woodstock on Sunday. The store in the Waverly Woods development in Howard County has remained open during the course of the $3 million project. It will have larger produce and service seafood departments, an expanded deli, larger frozen and dairy sections, a bigger pharmacy and more self-scan lanes. Weis is also finishing work on two new stores that will open in Woodlawn and Towson. The grocery chain has 163 stores in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia.

Buca di Beppo, a chain of neighborhood-style Italian restaurants, will open its planned White Marsh Mall eatery on Monday, mall representatives confirmed. The Italian restaurant was initially scheduled to open in September. The eatery is part of the wave of new tenants and upgrades that have come to the Baltimore County mall over the past few months, including the re-opening of Boscov's department store in October and renovations to the food court in September. Mattress Warehouse and Deb Shops are among newer tenants as well, and mall officials expect to announce more new stores soon.

Men's clothing store chain JoS. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. now has 601 stores across the United States, the company announced Monday. The Hampstead-based public company opened two stores on Friday - one in Miami and the second in southeastern Michigan, the company said. "Achieving the 600 store level represents a significant milestone," said CEO R. Neal Black in a statement. "Over the past 5 years, we have opened more than 190 new stores. " JoS. A Bank expects to expand to 800 stores - 700 "full-line" stores and 100 factory outlets, the company's statement said.

Though Under Armour still plans to open a store at its Tide Point headquarters, the company felt it had gone too long without a retail space in the city it calls home. Under Armour announced Thursday that it will open a specialty store at Harbor East in February. Construction on the 8,000-square-foot store at 700 S. President St., not far from J. Crew, will begin this month. The company reported a 31 percent increase in direct-to-consumer revenue for the third quarter as it further transitioned from selling mostly in big-box stores.

The luxury wing of Towson Town Center will get its biggest influx of new or relocated stores since the upscale addition opened nearly four years ago, with cooking shop Sur La Table and resort-wear retailer Lilly Pulitzer among those planning to open by late August. Other tenants unveiled by mall managers on Wednesday include Marbles: The Brain Store —specializing in games, puzzles and books — and L'Occitane —offering fragrances and personal-care products. Both will open in August.

ST. LOUIS -- May Department Stores Co., parent of Hecht's, Lord & Taylor and others, said yesterday that it plans to invest $3.6 billion over five years in its department stores.By 2002, May will add 100 new department stores to its existing base of 370 stores, remodel or expand 100 stores and invest $350 million in new technology to improve service, Chief Executive Gene Kahn said in a statement to the company's annual meeting.May Department Stores, which had $12.4 billion in sales for the year that ended January 1998, plans to invest $725 million this year to open 19 new stores and expand seven stores, adding 2.9 million square feet of retail space by the end of the year, the retailer said.

Thanks to low unemployment, an abundance of new stores and a crop of picky student workers, retailers have been scrambling harder -- and earlier -- to line up holiday help.With an eye on the competition, some began seasonal hiring as early as July. Others expect overtime to kick into overdrive, with managers helping to cover shifts."In today's competitive environment, if you aren't planning and recruiting early, you will be in trouble," said Frank Farnung, manager of Target in Bel Air. "Any time you have full employment or as close to full employment as we have, it makes it a more challenging market to hire staff."

A local grocery chain and a Philadelphia-based nonprofit have opened a ShopRite in Parkville and are employing hundreds of local residents who had been jobless, the grocery store's owner said. "The community has been very positive about the store and about revitalizing an area of Baltimore County that has been underserved," Marshall Klein, chief operating officer of Klein's ShopRite of Maryland, said by phone Tuesday. The 56,000-square-foot ShopRite of Perring Crossing, in the 2400 block of Cleanleigh Drive in Parkville, opened Friday.

Best Buy will close its Inner Harbor and Hunt Valley stores in May, part of a move to shutter 50 locations across the country. Company officials said in a news release that the stores were temporarily closed to inform employees of the decision Saturday, and they will permanently close May 12. Best Buy has been struggling against online competitors, and its chief executive officer abruptly resigned last week amid reports of an inappropriate relationship...