(Sep. 1)

A fire that tore through the roof of a Lowe's store under construction in Waterloo, Ontario, on Aug. 31 is being investigated as arson, according to TheRecord.com.

The 1 a.m. blaze, estimated to cause $100,000 in damages, was one of two extinguished by firefighters when they arrived at the new Boardwalk shopping center under construction. The second fire was close to a construction trailer on the same site.

Most of the damage was contained to the roof of the Lowe's store, where witnesses said 15-ft. flames shot up and smoke blew pieces of roofing materials into the parking lot and nearby roads.

(Aug. 30) The Olympic Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., closed its doors for good in 2008. In its place will rise a 153,974-sq.-ft. Lowe's, the city announced last week.

Carlsbad has given the green light to Palomar Commons, a development on the site of the old resort that in addition to a Lowe's will also include a gas station, a car wash, a bank with drive-through and four retail shop buildings totaling 31,270 sq. ft.

Palomar Commons will fill a gap in the marketplace identified by a recent market analysis, which showed that residents currently need to drive outside the city to find major home improvement type stores, the city said. The center will have a Spanish-Mediterranean architectural style with natural colored stucco and tile work.

"This project really addresses a gap in goods and services available to our local community," said Gary Barberio, the city's director of community and economic development. "We're taking an under-utilized site and turning it into something that will serve the community's needs and provide tax revenue to fund local services."

(Aug. 26)

According to an article in The Atlanta Constitution Journal, a jury found a former Home Depot vendor involved in a kickback scheme not guilty of federal fraud and conspiracy charges.

A Home Depot spokesman said the company might still file civil charges against the businessman, Ian Jay Evans, because he admitted making kickbacks to a Home Depot buyer. The trial was part of a larger investigation that resulted in jail time for two former Home Depot buyers.