Giant Food (717-245-7474) is planning to open a 55,800 sq.ft. supermarket in Columbia, MD. The supermarket will replace the Columbia Palace Theatre, and will be located off of Route 108 and Centre Park Drive.

International Dairy Queen, Inc. (952-830-0200) is planning to open 15 DQ Grill & Chill locations by the end of the year. Additional units slated to open this summer will be franchisee-owned. The company also is planning to renovate older Dairy Queens and build DQ Grill & Chill locations in target markets throughout the southeast, southwest, midwest and Canada.

Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. (610-430-8100) is planning to open an EB Games store located in San Francisco, CA at Union Square. It will be the company’s 1000th store. The company is on pace to open a total of 200 stores in the current fiscal year. The company currently operates stores in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Puerto Rico, Sweden and South Korea.

Walgreens Co. (847-914-2500) is opening a 14,490 sq.ft. freestanding Walgreens store at the intersection of Hillsboro Road and Lyons Road in Coconut Creek, FL. The store will feature a double drive-thru and will be situated on a 1.6-acre outparcel. Opening is slated for February 2003.

The Steak n Shake Co. (317-633-4100) is planning to open 20 Steak n Shake restaurants for fiscal 2003. The company also recently opened its 400th location. The Steak n Shake Co. plans for increased openings of new units in fiscal 2004.

Gold’s Gym, Inc. (800-457-5375) is planning to open a 40,000 sq.ft. Gold’s Gym at 7770 Richmond Highway in Alexandria, VA by the end of the year. The 60,000 sq.ft. site was formerly occupied by Hechinger. The center is near Mount Vernon Plaza and South Valley Shopping Center and will be tenanted by a 1,500 sq.ft. chiropractor’s office and a dry cleaner.

Stein Mart, Inc. (904-346-1500) opened Stein Mart stores in Irvine Hills and Granada Hills, CA and Indianapolis, IN and is planning to open three more stores this Fall. The company expects to end the fiscal year 2002 with 16 new stores. The company will open a new concept, smaller store known as "collections of Stein Mart" on October 24. In fiscal year 2003, the company expects to open approximately 30 stores.

Recreational Equipment, Inc. (800-426-4840) is planning to open 40 stores over five years. The company currently operates 61 sporting goods stores in 24 states.

Cato Corp. (704-554-8510) is planning to open 90 Cato stores this year, including its 1,000th store this Fall. During the first half, the company opened 35 stores and relocated 12 stores. The company also is planning to open a 4,200 sq.ft. clothing store in the Capital Crossing shopping center next to Schnucks supermarket at the intersection of Missouri Boulevard and Southwest Boulevard in Jefferson City, MO during mid-October. The company currently operates 937 women’s fashion clothing stores in 24 states.

Ross Stores, Inc. (510-505-4400) opened 35 Ross ‘Dress for Less’ stores during the first six months of this year and plan to add another 22 locations in the third quarter, with a focus on AL, LA and TN. The company is planning to operate 507 stores in 23 states by the end of the year.

Fred’s, Inc. (901-362-3733) opened 31 Fred’s stores in the first half of this year and plans to open another 29 stores by year’s end. The company currently operates 410 discount general merchandise stores, including 26 franchised Fred’s stores in the southeastern U.S.

Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc. (276-629-6000) is planning to open 85 stores by the end of the year, with a goal of 300 stores by 2010. The company currently operates 79 Bassett Furniture Direct stores.

Target Corp. (612-370-6948) expects its 82 superstores will account for as much as 40% of the company’s growth over the next five to 10 years. Target Corp. is planning to operate 300 superstores by 2010.

Slackers CD’s & Games (636-240-9237) is planning to open a 4,000 sq.ft. store at Capital Crossing, located at the intersection of Missouri Boulevard and Southwest Boulevard in Jefferson City, MO. The company, which specializes in buying and selling used CDs and videos, currently operates seven stores throughout IL and MO.

Talbots (800-533-3201) is planning to open a store at Central Park in Fredericksburg, VA during Spring 2003.

Galyan’s Trading Co., Inc. (317-612-2000) opened a Galyan’s store in Okemos, MI. The company also plans to open five stores in the third quarter, which will expand Galyan’s reach to include MO and NV and increase its presence in CO, IL and TX. By the end of the fiscal year 2002, the company expects to operate 35 sporting goods stores.

Kirkland’s, Inc. (731-668-2444) is planning to open 15 Kirkland’s stores in the fiscal year 2002. The company is planning to open 35 home decor stores during 2003.

The Bombay Co., Inc. (817-347-8200) is planning to open as many as 34 Bombay stores during the fiscal year 2002, including 10 outlet stores and five KIDS stores.

Papa Murphy’s (360-882-4608) is planning to open a 2,100 sq.ft. restaurant at Capital Crossing, located at the intersection of Missouri Boulevard and Southwest Boulevard in Jefferson City, MO. The company currently operates 628 stores nationwide.

Subway Restaurants (203-877-4281) is planning to open 25 Subway locations along the Interstate 80/880 corridor in CA. The company also plans to open 90 shops in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties of CA in the next three years. Subway also is planning to open shops at Oakland International Airport, in Kaiser and Alta Bates hospitals, on Webster Street in Alameda and Fruitvale and MacArthur Boulevards in Oakland. The company also is planning to open 25 units in San Francisco, CA this year. Currently, Subway operates more than 16,000 restaurants in 75 countries.