Business News (1-4-12)



In Business News for Wednesday, January 4th, 2012, Dollar General is opening new stores, and Shopko and Pamida are merging. Also, Bloomingdale's is closing at Mall of America.

Dollar General will open 625 new stores in the 38 states where it operates, including southeastern Wisconsin. The new locations will create 6,000 new jobs around the country.

Shopko and Pamida are merging, which will create one of the largest retailers in the country that focuses on smaller and rural communities. Shopko is based in Green Bay and Pamida in Omaha.

Bloomingdale's inside the Mall of America is closing. The upscale retailer is owned by Macy's and is one of the mall's original tenants. It occupies about 210,000 square feet in the southeast corner of the Bloomington, Minnesota mall.