Awards

Baldwin Park, Calif. — The Los Angeles Business Journal has awarded NewMark Merrill Companies the Gold level “Best 2013 Retail Project in Los Angeles” for Park Plaza on Maine in Baldwin Park, Calif.

NewMark Merrill carried out a major $2.5 million renovation on the 165,000-sq.-ft. shopping center.

Mars Chocolate’s global president Grant F. Reid has been named by the company’s board of directors as president, effective Jan. 2, 2015. Reid will take over for current Mars president Paul S. Michaels, who plans to retire at the end of the year.

New York – Amazon.com and Google were among the biggest winners in the annual CoreBrand Top 100 Most Powerful Brands Rankings for 2014, both increasing in their rankings. Walgreens and UPS dropped 11 spots each.

The report ranks the top 100 corporate brands in terms of market reputation and awareness. Consumer-cyclical and consumer-staple brands represent 58 of the top 100 corporate brands, which CoreBrand says indicates that the most powerful brands have a strong connection to consumers.

Julie Eddleman, Erik Keptner and Andy Murray are the newest inductees into the Path to Purchase Institute’s Hall of Fame which recognizes industry leaders for their contributions to the field of shopper marketing.

Eddleman, marketing director of North American brands at Procter & Gamble, Keptner, EVP of marketing at Ahold, and Murrary, SVP of creative at Walmart were recognized at a gala event held in conjunction with the Institute’s annual Shopper Marketing Summit in Chicago.

Leading brands are retailers were recognized for their effectiveness in marketing communications Tuesday night in Chicago when the fourth annual North American Shopper Marketing Effie Awards were held at the Path to Purchase Institute’s annual Shopper Marketing Summit.

More than 360 select Loblaw banner stores across Canada nabbed the world record for the most wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese cracked simultaneously, as declared by a Guinness World Records adjudicator. Officially, 1,008 wheels were cracked in more than 360 Loblaw banner stores simultaneously across Canada.

Kayser-Roth Corporation received three awards from Walmart: Supplier of the Year for overall outstanding performance and partnership in 2013, Overall Apparel Supplier of the Year and the Made in the USA Supplier of the Year Award, Apparel, for its No nonsense brand.

The awards were presented at Walmart's annual Vendor Summit in Orlando, Fla.

RH (formerly called Restoration Hardware) continues its transformation from a hardware retailer to a lifestyle brand at its stunning Gallery store in Boston. The 37,670-sq.-ft. space, which took top honors in the 2014. A.R.E. Design Awards competition, is located in a landmark building in the heart of the city’s Back Bay.