Marketing Tactics

Rockville, Md. — Kids First Swim School has leased an 8,654-sq.-ft. space at the Randolph Hills Shopping Center in Rockville, Md. Divaris represented the landlord, Randolph Properties Limited Partnership, in the transaction.

Kids First Swim School is the nation’s largest provider of year-round, warm-water swimming instruction. The school operates in 16 locations in four states and teaches more than 80,000 students every year.

New York – Saks Inc. plans to open seven new Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th stores in 2014: The Outlets at Bloomfield in Pearl, Miss.; Potomac Mills in Woodbridge, Va.; Palm Beach Outlets in West Palm Beach, Fla; Outlet Shoppes at Louisville/Lexington, Ky.; Twin Cities of Eagan in Minneapolis, Minn.; The Mayfair Collection in Mayfair, Wis.; and Easton Gateway in Columbus, Ohio.

Salt Lake City – Overstock.com, Inc. is launching a social media-based sweepstakes inspired by its new "The Good Good" advertising campaign.

Contest entrants participate by adding an image or pin representing the work of a non-profit that inspires them to Pinterest. Entrants will then share that pin on the Overtock.com website. One winner will be awarded $2,500, and Overstock.com employees will give the non-profit 100 hours of time.

Boston – Rue La La has appointed Robin Domeniconi as chief marketing officer overseeing the company's marketing and creative departments. Domeniconi will report to Steve Davis, CEO of Rue La La.

Domeniconi previously served as chief brand officer for Elle Group, In addition, she has held the position of VP of advertising sales, marketing, and publishing at Microsoft as well as seven-year tenure at Time Inc. where she launched and published Real Simple magazine.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corporation is requesting that customers no longer bring guns onto its property, either inside or outside its stores — even in states where “open carry” laws permit them to do so — with the exclusion of law enforcement personnel.

Company founder, chairman and CEO Howard Schultz made the request in an open letter posted under his name on the Starbucks website. The company plans to buy ad space in major national newspapers to run the letter.

New York -- New York City drugstore operator Duane Reade, a division of Walgreens, on Tuesday celebrated an important social milestone — surpassing one million followers on Twitter — with a gala event at the chain’s flagship on Wall Street. From September 2012 to date, the regional retailer has organically grown its Twitter following by 6,709%, making it one of the fastest-growing accounts on Twitter year over year. With 1.1 million followers at latest count, the chain is believed to be the most followed retailer in the drug, food and mass arena.

Dewitt, Mich. -- Dentco, a leading exterior services management company, has appointed David Arthur to serve as its new national sales manager.

Arthur comes to Dentco with 12 years of sales experience, which includes direct sales, product knowledge, forecasting, and vendor relation proficiency. More recently, Arthur was an architectural sales manager for six years, in which he coordinated sales for commercial jobs, negotiated pricing, and managed marketing efforts.

Plano, Texas -- Legal wrangling about J.C. Penney Co. selling Martha Stewart-branded home goods is reportedly continuing. According to The Motley Fool, a hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 25 to review allegations in the New York Post that J.C. Penney plans to terminate its contract with Martha Stewart Living.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th plans to open a new store in Aventura, Fla., on Sept. 20.

The store will be located in Town Center Aventura developed in partnership with Turnberry Media and will be the third Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th location in Miami. The 28,000-sq.-ft. layout includes an open floor plan, moveable fixtures and bright lighting.