Oconomowoc Mayor letting us in on the good news he thinks he overheard...

Maury Sullivan, mayor of Oconomowoc, has made comments that are headline news at the Waukesha Freeman:

Target, Kohl’s, among potential Pabst Farms retailers? Sullivan says ‘grapevine’ IDs them; developer claims no tenants signed
By JEFF RUMAGE - GM Today Staff	September 13, 2008

OCONOMOWOC - Mayor Maury Sullivan announced Thursday the names of four potential Pabst Farms Town Centre tenants that he said he heard “through the grapevine.”

At his annual “state of the city” address before Oconomowoc Area Chamber of Commerce members, Sullivan said he has heard Target, Kohl’s, PetSmart and OfficeMax are rumored as potential mall tenants, although Pabst Farms Developments and the town center developer, Developers Diversified Realtors, are keeping the tenants’ identities secret until negotiations are finalized.

Pabst Farms spokesman Thad Nation insists no tenants have signed on to the project.

Cool.

• "...through the grapevine...."
  
  
• "Rumored as potential mall tenants...."
  
  
• "Pabst Farms Development and the town center developer, Developers Diversified Realtors, are keeping the tenants' identities secret...."
  

• "...Pabst Farms and DDR have said the mall will draw a regional base of customers. With Target, Kohl's and Office Max store locations already nearby in Delafield, Sullivan's announcement was not warmly received by Chamber of commerce members".

Meanwhile, in the real world other retailers and mall denizens are making big news, and they're not keeping identities secret:
(as of May, 2008; highly probable that many more have been added to this list in past quarter)

• Ann Taylor is closing 117 stores nationwide.
• Eddie Bauer to close more stores.
• Cache is closing 20 to 23 stores this year.
• Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, and Catherines are closing 150 stores nationwide.
• Talbots, and J. Jill are closing all 78 of its kids and men’s stores. Now the company says it will close another 22 underperforming stores. The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women’s and J.Jill.
• Gap Inc. will be closing 85 stores.
• Foot Locker to close 140 stores.
• Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of its stores.
• Levitz, the furniture retailer, is going out of business and closing all 76 of its stores in December.
• Zales, Piercing Pagoda plans to close 82 stores by July 31. It has also announced that it is closing another 23 underperforming stores.
• The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Children’s Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late March. Walt Disney, in a news release, said it has also obtained the right to close about 98 Disney Stores in the U.S.
• Home Depot has 15 store closings.
• CompUSA clarifies details on its store closings. Any extended warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions.
• Macy’s is closing 9 stores.
• Movie Gallery is closing 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit. They plan to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall.
• Pacific Sunwear is closing 153 Demostores.
• Pep Boys is closing 33 stores.
• Sprint Nextel is closing 125 retail locations.
• J. C. Penney, Lowe’s, and OfficeDepot are scaling back.
• Ethan Allen Interiors announced plans to close 12 of 300+ stores in an effort to cutcosts.
• Wilsons the Leather Experts is closing 158 stores.
• Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced that 90 of its 184 stores are closing.
• Bombay Company: The company unveiled plans to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay Company stores.
• KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.
• Dillard’s plans to close more stores.
• Steve and Barry’s Clothing, which has 240 stores filed for bankruptcy.
• Starbucks is in the process of closing 600 stores.

Sources:

Barbaro, Michael. "Big Retailers Scaling Back Expansion Plans and Shutting Stores."

The New York Times. 2 May 2008.

Kingsbury, Kevin. "Restructuring Charges, Economic Environment Hurt AnnTaylor's Net."

The Wall Street Journal. 22 May 2008.

O'Donnell, Jayne. "Disney to Shutter 98 Stores; Home Depot Closing 15."

USA Today. 1 May 2008.

Associated Press. "Wilsons Leather Closing Stores."

Green Bay Press-Gazette. 16 February 2008.

Dow Jones Newswires. "Foot Locker 1Q Net Falls 82%; Backs Year Forecast."

CNNMoney.com. 22 May 2008.

WHAS-TV [ Louisville]. "Many Stores Closing Due to Retail Slump."