Marketing

HOUSTON — Stage Stores has announced that Mike Searles has joined the company as president and COO of its South Hill division, which is headquartered in South Hill, Va. Searles, who will report to Rich Maloney, EVP and chief merchandising officer, will be responsible for all operations of the South Hill division, including merchandising, planning and allocation, and store operations.

Some priceless publicity to cement Target’s image as the cool place to shop came courtesy of The New York Times this week. The newspaper reported on and featured a video on its website of the retailer’s back-to-college efforts, which included chartering busses to ferry thousands of kids to its stores at 66 campuses nationwide.

PHOENIX, Ariz. — The Global Market Development Center, the trade group for health, beauty, wellness and general merchandise retailers, announced that it has awarded its 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award to Terry Cox, retired group VP at Kroger, at its Health Beauty Wellness Marketing Conference in Phoenix, Ariz.

Fashion newness is all around this fall with interesting merchandising initiatives pitting designers, celebrities and retailers against one another to determine which approach will resonate strongest with consumers.

Houston -- Stage Stores announced that Mike Searles has joined the company as president and COO of its South Hill Division, which is headquartered in South Hill, Va.

Searles will be responsible for all operations of the South Hill Division, including merchandising, planning and allocation, and store operations. He has served as chairman and CEO of Wilsons Leather Stores, and Factory 2-U Stores, in addition to holding senior executive level positions at several other national retail chains.

Beachwood, Ohio -- Developers Diversified Realty Corp. announced Monday that it will officially change its name to DDR Corp., and adopt its New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol and most commonly referred identity, DDR, as its official brand name.

The company also unveiled a new logo, tagline and brand identity.

Tustin, Calif. -- Coreland Cos. of Tustin, Calif., announced that Kim Talley has been named senior associate, retail brokerage.

Talley was previously senior associate with CB Richard Ellis. She has completed transactions with TJ Maxx, Wells Fargo, TruValue Hardware, Starbucks and Citibank.

Los Angeles -- CB Richard Ellis Group announced Monday that Grayson Gill has been promoted to COO of the company’s Asset Services business line.  

Gill previously held the title of Senior Managing Director.

In his new role, he will be responsible for the operations of Asset Services in the United States, overseeing all of the business line’s operational departments, including Legal, Employee Relations, Finance, Technology, Procurement, Human Resources, Technical Services, and Client Accounting.

Philadelphia -- Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services said that it has promoted Mark E. Taylor to first VP investments.

Most recently, Taylor held the title of VP investments. He specializes in the sale of retail shopping centers and net-leased property investment real estate.

Northbrook, Ill. -- Oakbrook, Ill.-based Mid-America Asset Management said that Saks has signed a lease for 25,900 sq. ft. at Village Square of Northbrook in Northbrook, Ill., to open its third Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th store in Chicagoland.

The store, which will unveil a new design, is slated to open in November.

Mid-America is the exclusive leasing representative for the 334,995-sq.-ft. shopping center located on Chicago’s North Shore.