Retail briefs

At the world's largest retailer's annual meeting last week, Tom Schoewe, executive vp and cfo, said that the company's future growth will come from comp-store increases, the addition of new stores and clubs and acquisitions. "We're investing in growth," he said, adding Wal-Mart has a 2003 capital plan of $10 billion. In the United States, Wal-Mart plans to add approximately 50 Wal-Mart stores, 180 to 185 Supercenters, 15 to 20 Neighborhood Markets, and 50 to 55 Sam's Club units. To support this U.S. expansion, Wal-Mart plans to build seven new DCs in the next fiscal year. Internationally, the company is scheduled to open 120 to 130 units and will continue to remodel its Supercenter units in Germany.

Federated Department Stores has agreed to purchase two Gottschalks units, located in Coeur d'Alene, ID, and Kennewick, WA, which it will remodel and reopen as The Bon Marché stores by late fall. The Coeur d'Alene store in the Silver Lake Mall will occupy 44,000 square feet and will function as a full-line store. It will join a pre-existing unit in downtown Coeur d'Alene. The Kennewick store in the Columbia Center Mall will occupy 40,000 square feet and will serve as an expansion of the existing Columbia Center store.

Ames Department Stores has announced that it will close six of its 333 store locations. The six stores have begun liquidation and are expected to close by the middle of August. Two of the stores scheduled to close are in New Jersey — in North Brunswick and Neptune — and the others are located in Cambridge, OH; Bethel Park, PA; Syracuse, NY; and Essex, MD. Approximately 280 employees will be affected.