Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc. (510-594-2100) is planning to open six stores this year, including four in the San Francisco Bay area of CA. The plans call for locations at Ferry Market Plaza in San Francisco, Santana Row in San Jose, CA, Bay Meadows in San Mateo and Santa Clara, CA and in Lake Oswego, OR and in Seattle, WA. The company currently operates 65 stores throughout four states.

Office Depot, Inc. (888-463-3768) is planning to open 40 stores throughout the nation this year, as well as five to 10 stores throughout France and Japan. The company currently operates 848 locations nationwide.

Linens ‘n Things, Inc. (973-778-1300) is planning to open a 27,000 sq.ft. store at the Rogue Valley Mall in Medford, OR. The company currently operates 391 stores throughout 45 states and four Canadian provinces.

Wal*Mart Stores, Inc. (650-837-5000) is planning to open a Wal*Mart Supercenter at the Westwood Mall in Jackson, OR. The company also plans on opening a 118,000 sq.ft. Wal*Mart at Bristol Commerce Park in Bristol, PA.

Applebee’s International, Inc. (913-967-4000) is planning to open 100 restaurants this year, including 25 company restaurants and 70 to 80 franchise restaurants. Seven locations are currently expected to open in the first half of the year, with the balance opening in the second half. Approximately 20 to 25 franchise restaurants are expected to open in the first half, with the remainder opening in the second half. The company currently operates 1,506 restaurants throughout 49 states and nine international countries.

Starbucks Corp. (206-624-7060) is planning to open 600 company-operated stores during fiscal 2003. The company also anticipates remodeling existing stores.

Panera Bread (314-633-7100) is planning to open a restaurant at Carlisle Commons in Carlisle, PA during the Spring. The company recently opened a restaurant along East Market Street in the York, PA area.

Dickie Walker Marine, Inc. (760-450-0360) recently opened a store in La Jolla, CA. The company is planning to open additional stores this year.

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc. (602-957-8986) is planning to open 17 Bistro units and 14 Pei Wei units this year. The company currently operates 96 P.F. Chang’s China Bistro restaurants and 30 Pei Wei Asian Diner restaurants.

Save-A-Lot (314-592-9100) opened a 12,584 sq.ft. store at 935 North Main Street in Bluffton, IN. The site formerly was occupied by Quality Farm and Fleet. The company currently operates 1,000 stores throughout 37 states. The company also plans on opening a supermarket in the Shillington Shopping Center in Cumru Township, PA. The store, formerly occupied by Trak Auto, will be 15,200 sq.ft.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (212-633-3300) is planning to open a 24,000 sq.ft. store at Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee, IL. The company currently operates approximately 620 superstores throughout 49 states and Washington, DC under the banners Barnes & Noble, Bookstop, and Bookstar, as well as 305 mall stores using the names B. Dalton, Doubleday, and Scribner’s.

Fresh Enterprises (805-495-4704) is planning to open a restaurant in Dayton, OH during June. The company also is planning to open a restaurant in the Point Plaza Shopping Center at 5716 Touhy Avenue in Niles, IL.

Apple Computer, Inc. (408-996-1010) is planning to open 25 stores nationwide this year. The first two stores opened in McLean, VA and Glendale, CA. The company also is planning to open three stores in Chicago, IL; four in Los Angeles, CA and three for the San Francisco, CA area. Other locations include Bloomington, MN; Hartford, CT and New York, NY.

The Bombay Co., Inc. (817-347-8200) is planning to open 25 to 30 of its 4,500 sq.ft. Bombay stores and 4,000 sq.ft. KIDS stores. In addition, the company expects to open 15 to 20 Bombay stores and to convert two to four of the smaller size stores to the larger 3,500 sq.ft. to 4,000 sq.ft. format stores this year.

Buca di Beppo (612-288-2382) opened a restaurant at 10334 Southside Boulevard in Jacksonville, FL. The company, which operates 93 restaurants nationwide as Buca di Beppo and Vinny T’s of Boston, plans to open a total of 14 locations this year.

Qdoba Restaurant Corp. (303-629-5000) opened a Qdoba Mexican Grill in Frankfort, KY and plans to open another Louisville, KY restaurant later this year. The company also has another restaurant under construction near the intersection of Shelbyville Road and Hurstbourne Lane in Louisville, KY. Qdoba also plans on opening 14 restaurants throughout the Philadelphia, PA area later this year. The company currently operates 80 restaurants throughout 16 states.

Pizza Ranch (712-439-1150) is planning to open a restaurant in Oskaloosa, IA. The company currently operates 96 restaurants throughout IA, MI, MN, ND, NE and SD.

Dick’s Sporting Goods (412-787-1330) is planning to open a store in the Plattsburgh, NY area, possibly in the Champlain Centre, during 2004.

Ann Taylor Stores Corp. (212-541-3300) is planning to open approximately 75 to 80 stores during fiscal 2003, comprised of approximately 10 to 15 Ann Taylor stores and approximately 60 to 65 Ann Taylor Loft stores.

Oakley, Inc. (949-951-0991) is planning to open approximately 20 locations under its four different concepts, including Occhiali da Sole, Sporting Eyes, Sunglass Designs and Oakley Icon. The stores will be located nationwide and will feature both kiosks and inline store formats.

Nordstrom, Inc. (206-628-2111) is planning to open a 125,000 sq.ft. store at the Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington, FL during November.

Altex Electronics Ltd. (210-637-3200) is planning to open a store at 1525 South Jack Kultgen Expressway in Waco, TX. The company also operates storefronts in San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas and Corpus Christi, TX.