Baja Fresh Mexican Grill (805-495-4704) is planning to open 16 restaurants in Nassau and Suffolk Counties in Long Island, NY during the next five years. The first restaurant is planned to open early next year. The company currently operates 190 company-owned and franchised restaurants in 16 states.

PetSmart, Inc. (623-580-6100) is planning to expand its PetsHotel concept. The 570-store chain opened a stand-alone hotel last year in Tucson, AZ. The company recently opened two hotels that are attached to PetSmart stores in Tempe and Glendale, AZ. Rooms for dogs range from $21 to $31 per night, while rooms for cats are $13 per night. The company also offers day care services for $12 per day for dogs and $8 per day for cats.

Rent-A-Center (972-801-1100) is planning to open approximately 80 to 120 stores nationwide during 2003.

Gander Mountain (952-830-8700) is planning to open a 100,000 sq.ft. store at Randall Road in Geneva, IL. The company currently operates 57 sporting goods stores in eight states.

Stater Bros. Markets (909-783-5000) is planning to open a supermarket at the intersection of Highway 395 and Palmdale Road in Adelanto, CA. Opening is slated for late Fall 2003. The company currently operates 48 supermarkets in San Bernardino County, CA and 89 supermarkets in the Inland Empire area of CA.

Staples, Inc. (508-253-5000) is planning to open an 18,000 sq.ft. store at the intersection of 16th and Wilshire in Santa Monica, CA. The store is slated for a Fall 2003 opening.

Wal*Mart Stores, Inc. (650-837-5000) is planning to open a 187,000 sq.ft. Wal*Mart Supercenter at the Village at Avon in Avon, CO. The company also is planning to open a 135,000 sq.ft. Sam’s Club in Roseville, MI.

The Home Depot, Inc. (770-433-8211) is planning to open a 118,000 sq.ft. location at the Village at Avon in Avon, CO.

Borders Group, Inc. (734-477-1100) is planning to open a 23,000 sq.ft. store on Route 7 in Wilton, CT. The company currently has CT locations in Farmington, Manchester, Simsbury, Danbury, Stamford and Fairfield and operates 390 stores nationwide.

Kohl’s Corp. (262-703-7000) is planning to open as many as 30 stores throughout southern CA, with a focus on West Hills, Valencia, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo and Ventura.

Walgreens Co. (847-914-2500) opened a 15,000 sq.ft. store located at 4625 Summer Avenue in Memphis, TN. The store is situated on a land area of 2.16 acres and has a drive-thru service on a space formerly occupied by Exxon and Hubbard’s Hardware. The company is planning to open 450 stores this year. Walgreens currently operates 3,888 stores, with plans to have 7,000 stores by 2010.

Federated Department Stores, Inc. (212-704-3300) is planning to open a Bloomingdale’s home and furniture store in the Oakbrook Center, west of Chicago, IL. This will be the third store of its kind for Bloomingdale’s, following the recent introduction of a similar freestanding home store concept in Las Vegas, NV and the upcoming February opening of a store in downtown Chicago. The Oak Brook Center Bloomingdale’s store will include 90,000 sq.ft. of space on three levels, formerly occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue. It is slated for a Fall 2003 opening. Bloomingdale’s operates 27 stores in CA, FL, IL, MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, PA and VA. Federated Department Stores currently operates more than 450 stores in 34 states, Guam and Puerto Rico, under the names Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, The Bon March, Burdines, Goldsmith’s, Lazarus and Rich’s. The company also is planning to open a 124,000 sq.ft. Bloomingdale’s store during Fall 2003 in the SoHo district of New York, NY at 504 Broadway at the intersection of Spring and Broome Streets. This will be Bloomingdale’s second and Federated’s third Manhattan-based store. Construction is slated to begin during Spring 2003.

Hooters of America, Inc. (770-951-2040) is planning to open a Hooters restaurant located near the Route 20/Route 495 Interchange in Marlborough, MA. It will be the company’s second restaurant in MA and it will take the space formerly occupied by Rocco’s restaurant. The company currently operates 320 restaurants in 43 states.

Eckerd Corp. (800-325-3737) is planning to open two drug stores in Columbus, FL. One site is located at the intersection of Double Churches and Fortson Roads with a daily traffic count of 20,000 vehicles and is scheduled for a January 2003 opening, while the other is located near the intersection of Beaver Run Road and Flat Rock Road with a daily traffic count of 14,000 vehicles and is scheduled for a February 2003 opening. The stores will occupy spaces of 13,824 sq.ft. The company is planning to open 800 stores during 2003. Eckerd Corp. currently operates 2,650 stores in 20 states.

Electronics Boutique (610-430-8100) is planning to open a 2,400 sq.ft. store at St. David’s Square in Radnor, PA. The company currently operates 1,000+ stores nationwide and internationally. The company plans on opening 200 stores in the current fiscal year.

Batteries Plus (800-274-9155) is planning to open three stores in Spokane, WA over the next two years. The company also is exploring opening smaller stores in the outlying communities of northern ID and eastern WA, with a focus on Sandpoint and Pullman. The company currently operates 200 locations nationwide.

LaRosa’s, Inc. (513-347-5660) opened a 5,400 sq.ft. pizzeria in the Cross Point Shopping Center located at the intersection of Alex Bell and Loop Road in Dayton, OH. The company currently operates 53 locations in Cincinnati, OH and northern KY. The company also is planning to open five additional Dayton locations, but has not announced any specific plans.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (336-726-8917) is planning to open a 4,600 sq.ft. unit in Medford, MA and a location in Cranston, RI on Sockanosset Cross Road during Spring 2003.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (407-245-5366) is planning to open a 14,513 sq.ft. Red Lobster seafood restaurant at 5 Times Square at the intersection of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue in New York, NY. The space will comprise 3,277 sq.ft. on the ground floor and 11,236 sq.ft. on the second floor. The company signed a 10-year lease.

Tweeter Home Entertainment Corp. (781-830-3000) is opening a store at 7381 Sudley Road near Manassas, VA. It will be the fifth Tweeter store in the Washington, DC region and the first in Prince William County, VA. The Manassas store is one of six new stores Tweeter is opening this month. The company plans on opening 16 stores for fiscal 2003. The company currently operates 168 stores nationwide.