Marketing

Atlanta -- LaVida Massage said Wednesday it has named Duane Goodwin and Terry Sharp as Master Developers in the state of Georgia.

Goodwin and Sharp, both former Home Depot senior executives based in Atlanta, will be charged with spearheading the regional growth and the development of several centers in Atlanta and throughout Georgia.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Staples has announced new appointments at its European division. Amee Chande has been named managing director U.K. retail and direct and Andrew Gabriel has been named director technology and services European retail.

Chande will have overall responsibility for Staples retail and delivery businesses in the United Kingdom, a key market for the company. Chande joined Staples in 2009 as SVP strategy, responsible for developing and driving the company’s growth agenda.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples Europe announced Thursday that it has appointed Amee Chande to managing director UK retail & direct and Andrew Gabriel to director of technology and services European retail.

Chande will have overall responsibility for Staples retail and delivery businesses in the United Kingdom, a key market for the company. Chande joined Staples in 2009 as senior VP strategy, responsible for developing and driving the company’s growth agenda.

Bensalem, Pa. -- Charming Shoppes said Thursday that its first-quarter net income more than quintupled, but its revenue was flat and the profit rise was driven largely by cost cutting.

The CEO sounded a cautious tone for the future, saying the company needs to reignite store traffic and cope with rising cotton costs.

The company, which operates Lane Bryant, Catherines and Fashion Bug stores, said its net income for February through April was $26 million, up from $3.9 million in the same period last year.

New York City -- Robert K. Futterman & Associates said it recently secured the first Manhattan Chobani location at 150 Prince St. in SoHo, located on the southwest corner of West Broadway.

The 550-sq.-ft. space, formerly occupied by Swatch, is set to open this summer.

The SoHo location will introduce the Greek yogurt brand to a thriving retail corridor of Manhattan surrounded by co-tenants that include Lucky Brand, Cole Haan, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, among others.
 

MINNEAPOLIS — Target reported a 2.8% same-store sales increase for May, falling short of Wall Street's expectation for a 3.5% increase, as consumers remained cautious. The retailer reported that net sales for the four-week period were $4.8 billion, an increase of 3.8%t from $4.6 billion for the four weeks ended May 29, 2010. 

Kansas City, Kan. -- A report released Thursday by Compdata Surveys found that although the economy is still struggling to make significant strides towards recovery, small improvements are starting to become more evident.

The 2011 Compensation Data Services survey results found pay increase budgets remained relatively stable at 2.4%, reflecting a slight increase from 2.2% in 2010. Pay increase budgets are projected to continue slowly increasing in 2012 to 2.5%.

New York City -- New York City remains the world’s most expensive retail destination as retailers focus on the major fashion capitals pushing global rents in prime locations even higher, according to the latest CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Global Retail MarketView.

The average rent for space along Fifth Avenue from 49th Street up to 59th Street hit $1,900 per square foot in the first quarter. Hong Kong and Sydney came in second and third place in the rankings, with average per-square-foot rents of $1,697 and $1,301, respectively.