Corporate Governance

Baton Rouge, La. — Commercial Property Realty Trust, a REIT that manages and develops property holdings of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation has named Gerard “Stick” Thibodeaux VP and COO.

Thibodeaux will oversee the leasing and property management of Acadian Village Shopping Center in Baton Rouge, La., and the retail components of two traditional neighborhood developments — American in Zachary, La., and 5401 North in Raleigh, N.C.

Upland, Calif. — NewMark Merrill Companies has announced that Waba Grill will open in February at Upland Town Square in Upland, Calif. The restaurant signed a 10-year lease for approximately 2,008 sq. ft. of space near O’Reilly’s Auto Parts. Voit Real Estate Services represented Waba Grill.

NewMark Merrill manages Upland Town Square, which is owned by the company’s president and CEO Sandy Sigal.

Chicago — Jones Lang LaSalle has named Greg O’Brien chief executive officer, Americas. Reporting directly to Colin Dyer, president and CEO of JLL, O’Brien will have overall responsibility for the Americas business. He will be succeeded as CEO, Markets by John Gates. Both appointments are effective immediately.

Currently a member of the firm’s Americas Executive Committee, which sets the strategic direction for the region, O’Brien will now head this group and join the firm’s Global Executive Board.

Warren, Mich. — Art Van Furniture has announced a seventh Chicagoland location in Downers Grove. For the new store, slated to open in January of 2015, the retailer plans to renovate a two story 106,000-sq.-ft. former Home Depot Expo Center on Butterfield Road off of Interstate 88.

Art Van Furniture will open its sixth Chicagoland location in Woodridge-Bolingbrook in April. Last year, the retailer rolled out five new stores in the region — in Logan Square, Bedford Park, Orland Park, Batavia and Merrillville.

Altoona, Pa. — Sheetz Convenience Restaurants has opened two new locations in North Carolina. One is a 6,400-sq.-ft. store in Goldsboro, featuring a drive-through window, inside seating and a large shopping area. It will be the 59th Sheetz in the state.

The second store will open in Elkin, bringing the total number of North Carolina stores to 60.

Dallas — Corner Bakery Café ended 2013 with a multi-unit restaurant development agreement to open eight new restaurants in the Sacramento area with a new franchise partner, East Bay restaurants of Pleasanton, Calif.

East Bay owns and operates 48 Burger King and seven Taco Bell restaurants. The group of veteran restaurant operators plans to open its first Corner Bakery in 2014 and the remaining seven over the next five years.

Build-A-Bear Workshop has named Gina Collins as chief marketing officer and brand bear. Collins will lead the company’s marketing, public relations, entertainment and creative teams to drive sales growth and profitability.

She will also be responsible for branding, marketing, public relations, creative, licensing and corporate sales and will report to CEO Sharon John.

Hhgregg is offering online ordering with in-store pickup for Apple products, including iPhone, iPad and iPod models and Apple TV devices.

The move comes just a couple of weeks following the retailer’s preliminary third-quarter results which revealed poor performance in the consumer electronics and wireless categories and were below the company’s expectations.

The Federal Trade Commission has granted Kroger and Harris Teeter Supermarkets early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 with respect to the pending merger transaction between the two companies.
 
The early termination of the HSR waiting period satisfies one of the conditions to the closing of the pending merger, which remains subject to other customary closing conditions. Both companies expect the transaction to be completed before the end of January.

Jelly Belly Candy Company is set to launch a new flavor to its collection: the Draft Beer Jelly Belly jelly bean. Jelly Belly will debut the new flavor at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco and ISM in Cologne, Germany.

The beer flavor has been a popular request by consumers for decades, according to the company.

"This took about three years to perfect," Ambrose Lee, research and development manager for Jelly Belly Candy Company, said. "The recipe includes top secret ingredients, but I can tell you it contains no alcohol."