Marketing

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.

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.

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity Corp. announced the opening of two namesake stores and two shop-in-shops in South Korea.

The freestanding locations, in the cities of Koyang and DaeJeon, are the chain’s first stores in South Korea and were opened by partner Agabang & Co.

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.

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.

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.

New York City -- Dunkin' Donuts is looking to expand in the western part of the country. The chain said it is actively seeking franchisees for parts of Colorado, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and New Mexico, regions in which the Dunkin barely has a presence.

To entice would-be franchisees, the company will offer reduced royalty fees and extra money for local advertising.

SUNBURY, Pa. — Weis Markets earlier this week named Regina Tator as its director of private brands.

Tator succeeds Bruno Garisto, who was recently named VP center store sales and merchandising. Tator will oversee the product development and sales and marketing for the company’s 6,300 private-brand products, including center store, healthy and beauty care, and perishable private products.