California leads US in hotel deals for 2017

Seven of the 20 biggest hotel transactions of 2017 happened in California, according to Commercial Cafe. New York, Hawaii and Florida were also deal-making hot spots. Read the Real Estate Weekly story here

Target to take smaller stores to new towns in 2018

Target will expand its smaller-format store concept into new markets next year as part of a push to grow the concept from 59 to 130 locations over the next two years. The retailer will open a 54,700-square-foot store in Dallas and two smaller locations in the Massachusetts towns of Burlington and Cambridge. Read The Dallas Morning News story here

Graduate Hotels continues growth

Since opening its first property near the University of Georgia in 2014, Graduate Hotels has grown to 10 properties, all in college towns. The company plans to open 25 more properties through 2020. Read the Vogue online story here

Dollar General furthers growth with 17th distribution center

Dollar General will begin work in early 2018 on its 17th distribution center, a 1 million square-foot facility in Longview, Texas. The company said earlier this month that it will also expand its retail store footprint by 900 locations. Read the USA Today story here

Sources: Google to open physical stores in India

To improve Pixel smartphone sales in one of the fastest growing markets, Google plans to open brick-and-mortar stores in India, according to sources. Google will sell its other products such as Daydream View virtual reality headsets and Pixel laptops at the stores. Read The Economic Times story here

Restaurant leaders share expectations for 2018

Digital payments, mobile ordering and a shift to smaller menus are some of the trends that leaders in the fast casual restaurant industry expect for 2018. Diners will also continue to look for more vegan and vegetarian options, they predict. Read the FastCasual story here

Noelle hotel opens in Nashville, Tenn.

A new boutique hotel Noelle opened in downtown Nashville. Located at 200 Fourth Ave. N., the 224-room property situated next to Printers Alley has a quartet of food and beverage outlets, including the hotel’s all day restaurant and bar, Makeready Libations & Liberation. Read the Eater story here