Mergers & Acquisitions

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- The Sembler Company will introduce the newest additions to its portfolio as the company participates in the International Council of Shopping Centers’ Florida conference Aug. 24-26 in Kissimmee.

As part of a strategic shift back to traditional grocery-anchored shopping centers, Sembler recently inked deals on two Florida centers: North Port Center, Heron Creek, a grocery-anchored neighborhood center in North Port, Sarasota County, Florida; and The Shoppes at Trinity Lakes in Pasco County, Florida.

Seattle -- Outdoor gear and apparel retailer REI has promoted Eric Artz, CFO, the additional role COO), and Susan Viscon, VP merchandising, to senior VP merchandising.

Secaucus, N.J. -- The Children's Place, Inc. reported a loss of $10.7 million in the quarter ended Aug. 2, compared to a loss of $23.6 million in the year-ago period. Sales edged up to $384.6 million, from $382.4 million for second quarter 2013.

Same-store sales increased 0.8%.

New York -- Dollar Tree Inc. reported that net income in the second quarter dipped 2.6% to $121.5 million, from $124.7 million a year earlier, amid higher freight costs and investments in higher-value products.

Revenue rose 9.5% to $2.03 billion, and same-store sales increased 4.5%, beating Wall Street estimates of a 2.5% rise. It was the chain’s26th consecutive quarter of positive comparable store sales growth.

New York -- Cushman & Wakefield announced that Michael Prabhu has joined the firm as the U.S. head of Property Management.

Based in downtown Los Angeles, Prabhu’s focus will be on the strategic growth of the firm’s property management business in the U.S.

Cincinnati -- Phillips Edison/ARC Grovery Center REIT II, announced the acquisition of two grocery-anchored shopping centers, Lake Washington Crossing and MetroWest Village. These acquisitions expand the company's portfolio to include the state of Florida.

Lake Washington Crossing is a Publix grocery store-anchored shopping center located in Melbourne, Florida, approximately 35 miles east of Orlando. Other national and regional tenants featured at the 118,698 sq.-ft. shopping center include Sally Beauty, Pizza Hut, KFC and H&R Block.

Atlanta -- The Home Depot on Thursday named Craig Menear, president of the chain's U.S. retail business, as CEO and president, effective Nov. 1. Menear succeeds chairman and CEO Frank Blake.  Blake, who has held the top spot since 2007, will remain chairman.

Menear, who was also elected to the company's board of directors, effectively immediately, assumed his current position in February 2014. He is a 34-year retail veteran, and has been a key leader in the company's success, the retailer said.

Philadelphia — Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has entered into an agreement to sell an anchor pad underlying a Bon-Ton store in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, contiguous to Westgate Mall.

The transaction is expected to close prior to the end of 2014.