Marketing

Publix Super Markets has signed leases to open its first-ever stores in the state of Virginia.

Alexandria, Va. -- EDENS announced its residential partnership with Gables Residential on the development of 530 First Street in Alexandria, Virginia.

530 First Street will be the next major step in the evolution of Old Town North. EDENS will spearhead a new retail to the neighborhood. The LEED-certified, mixed-use project will offer 232 units of distinct apartment homes above 50,000 sq. ft. of retail.

Columbus, Ohio -- WP Glimcher has completed the sale of Forest Mall in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin and Northlake Mall in Atlanta. The two non-core assets were sold to private real estate investors for $30 million.

dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc. will open a 20,000-sq.-ft. store at Parkshire Center in Wilcrest, Texas on Feb. 6. The location is 14 miles southwest of downtown Houston, at the intersection of Highway 59 and Wilcrest Drive.

The new store ups dd’s store count in Texas to 37 locations, making it the retailer’s second largest state. With the new opening, the chain will operate 175 locations in 15 states.

Macy’s named longtime executive Peter Sachse to a new position with added responsibility for merchandising and said Justin S. MacFarlane joined the company as chief strategy, analytics and innovation officer.

The company said the changes were part of the company’s plan to, “aggressively to grow its omnichannel business based on intensive insight into evolving consumer preferences and changing shopping patterns.”

Many companies have developed robust social media platforms for marketing and advertising, but aren’t quite sure how to manage customers who visit a company’s site to lodge a customer service inquiry, simply vent or even express satisfaction with a product or service.

They simply run away from customers. Yet, these same companies would never ignore a customer phone call or email, probably because it seems more controllable than the social media environment.

H&M isn’t letting a challenging retail environment stand in the way of its physical expansion.

The Swedish retail powerhouse plans to open 425 stores in 2016, with a focus on expansion in the United States and China. The company will also enter several new markets this year, including New Zealand, Puerto Rico and Cyprus.

In addition, the chain will expand its e-commerce site to several markets, including Ireland, Japan, and Greece.

At the close of its fiscal year, H&M operated 3,924 stores in 61 markets.

Houston -- SRS Real Estate Partners welcomes Jonathan Hicks as SVP and co-market leader in the Houston office. Hicks will lead the Houston office alongside team member, Cody Persyn.

"The addition of Jonathan to our Houston office complements our existing business immensely," said Woody McMinn, president of North American brokerage. "Cody's depth and tenure at SRS, and around the country, joined with Jonathan's market contacts and local industry involvement, are going to make a great market leader team."

Salt Lake City -- Phillips Edison & Company announced it has promoted Scott Adair to VP of Community Partnerships, effective immediately. Adair, who previously served as assistant director of Property Management, will remain based in Salt Lake City.

In his new role, created as a result of the company’s Innovation Labs’ ‘Community Engagement Initiative,’ Adair is responsible for cultivating new and managing existing relationships with community leaders to build goodwill and advance business objectives.

Lowe's has added a retail veteran to its board of directors who serves on the boards of Dollar General and Books-A-Million.

Lowe's announced that Sandra B. Cochran, 57, has been appointed to its board of directors, effective immediately. The announcement brings Lowe's board of directors to 13 members, 12 of whom are independent.