Mergers & Acquisitions

Ross Dress for Less will open a new store in Redlands, California on Oct. 10. The 24,000-sq.-ft. relocation is in Mountain Grove at Citrus Plaza, and is being moved from its previous location at Tri-City Center.

With this location, Ross will operate 274 stores in its largest state. The opening is part of the retailer’s 2015 expansion program, totaling approximately 70 new locations during the year.

A new event for retailers and consumer package goods executives is taking shape called Shoptalk and the successful entrepreneurs behind its creation have big plans and funding to make it happen.

The “paint ‘n’ sip” phenomenon, whereby friends, neighbors, and colleagues come together to paint, drink and relax, is showing up signs of slowing down and that’s good news for a Louisiana-based company.

Painting with a Twist, which bills itself as the original and largest paint-and-sip franchise, has opened more than one new location each week this year, and is on track to reach its goal of 100 new locations in 2015.

One of the strongest performing retailers in the past few years will be getting a new CEO in January.

The company announced that current CEO and Chairman Carol Meyrowitz will step down and be succeeded by Ernie Herrman, 54, who will retain his current title as president of the company.

Global management consultancy Kurt Salmon is acquiring digital retail technology agency Mobispoke LLC, the engine behind such technologies as smart fitting rooms, integrated mobile apps and other leading-edge, interactive shopping experience technologies.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; max-height: 100000px; color: rgb(54, 54, 54); font-family: open_sansregular, Arial, Helvetica, sans-

New York -- Brixmor Property Group announced commercial real estate professional Mark Salma has joined the company as VP of redevelopment. In his role, Salma will focus on Brixmor’s anchor space repositioning projects in the North region with the goal of driving higher sales, traffic and small shop leasing at the property level.

A.R.E. (Association for Retail Environments) and POPAI (Point of Purchase Advertising International) have merged. The new association, which will be renamed in the coming months, creates one industry association representing all of the companies that provide end –‐to –‐end products and services for retail store environments and customer experiences.

Gelson's Markets is joining Smart & Final on the acquisition of some Haggen properties in Southern California.

Gelson's, a regional supermarket chain operating in Southern California, announced it is bidding on eight Haggen locations across five counties: Los Angeles County (Santa Monica); Orange County (Laguna Beach, Ladera Ranch); Riverside County (Rancho Mirage); San Diego County (Carlsbad, Del Mar, Pacific Beach); and Ventura County (Thousand Oaks).