Hottest Unit Growth

IHOP and Rite Aid rank among the top 10 companies with the greatest year-to-year changes in store count. They also rank among the top 10 on the Hot 100 Retailers chart, which isn’t too surprising, since adding a lot of stores and increasing sales often go hand-in-hand. Usually the jump is accomplished by acquiring an industry rival, which is what IHOP and Rite Aid did.

IHOP’s big move came last summer when it spent approximately $2.1 billion to buy Applebee’s International. IHOP was an experienced franchisor of pancake restaurants (IHOP was once known as International House of Pancakes) while, with some 3,250 locations, Applebee’s was the nation’s largest chain of sit-down restaurants. Applebee’s had lost some of its glow and was being pursued by private equity funds when it put itself up for sale and was amenable to IHOP’s advances.

Rite Aid, of course, completed its deal for the Brooks Pharmacy and Eckerd drug stores that were once owned by Canada-based Jean Coutu Group.

Coldwater Creek built on its catalog and Internet base by moving into high gear with its bricks-and-mortar expansion. It opened a net of 67 stores, including 12 in the final quarter, driving a lot of volume, but paid the price in terms of margin and earnings. The company is making a number of changes in order to improve its performance. “We are moderating our retail expansion” this year, says president and CEO Daniel Griesmer. New store openings have been scaled back to about 50. Among the new locations was the first Coldwater Creek in Manhattan after the company entered the market with 13 stores in Long Island, Staten Island and nearby New Jersey and Connecticut suburbs.