Labor & Employment

North Plainfield, N.J. -- Levin Management announced that it has named Joe Lowry as director of acquisitions and business development for the company.

The 25-year commercial real estate industry veteran joined Levin in 2009 as director of acquisitions. His added responsibilities reflect the firm’s ongoing focus on adding new clients from among institutions, fund managers and private owners it does not already serve.

BENSALEM, Pa. — Charming Shoppes Inc. recorded a wider-than-expected loss for its fourth quarter as higher product costs and discounts at its Lane Bryant division cut into margins. The chain said it plans to close between 90 to 105 underperforming stores this year.

Charming Shoppes, which hired Barclays Capital in December to help it review its options, posted a loss of $13.2 million for the three months ended Jan. 28, compared with a loss of $30.4 million a year ago.

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners announced three new hires in brokerage, marketing and research.

Scott Poehler, Alexandra Hilker and Kyle West have joined the SRS teams in Newport Beach, Calif.; Denver, and Orlando, Fla.

Scott Poehler has joined SRS as an associate in the Newport Beach office, coming to SRS from Keller Williams Realty.

New York -- The Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index pulled back slightly in March, to 70.2, down from 71.6 in February.

"Consumer Confidence pulled back slightly in March, after rising sharply in February,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “The moderate decline was due solely to a less favorable short-term outlook, while consumers’ assessment of current conditions, on the other hand, continued to improve.”

Bensalem, Pa. -- Charming Shoppes Inc. recorded a wider-than-expected loss for its fourth quarter as higher product costs and discounts at its Lane Bryant division cut into margins. The chain said plans to close between 90 to 105 underperforming stores this year.

Charming Shoppes, which hired Barclays Capital in December to help it review its options, posted a loss of $13.2 million for the three months ended January 28, 2012, compared with a loss of $30.4 million a year ago.

San Diego -- Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services said it has named Phil Sambazis senior director of the firm’s National Retail Group in San Diego. Sambazis joined Marcus & Millichap in March 2006 and specializes in the acquisition and disposition of retail shopping centers and net-leased investments.

Marcus & Millichap has also named Kevin W. Boeve senior director of the firm’s National Retail Group in Ontario. Boeve joined Marcus & Millichap in June 1999.

New York -- 7-Eleven Inc. plans to open 15 to 20 stores this year in the Jacksonville, Fla., market and 80 locations by 2015, according to the Florida Times-Union.

Walmart took a chance on unemployed welfare recipient Girshriela Green when it hired her for a part-time job in the low-income Los Angeles neighborhood of Crenshaw. Now she’s out of work, in pain, on government assistance and being held up by as an example of Walmart bad behavior in an article that doubles as a union recruitment tool.