Education

New York — Edens has announced the winner of the 2014 Edens Retail Challenge, a nation-wide student competition seeking compelling new retail concepts.

This year’s winner is Joe Cut, a mobile hair salon that brings the haircut directly to the business college student through a mobile store and reservation app. Babson College undergraduates Michael Kliska, Paulina Bosque, Adriana Contreras and Nina Shapiro founded the business, which will primarily service male customers on campuses in the U.S.

Connecting brands with influential voices via social media is the premise on which Collective Bias was founded. This week the firm strengthened that proposition with several new initiatives to increase the effectiveness of brand’s social shopper marketing efforts.

North Plainfield, N.J. — Levin Management has promoted Jake Frantzman to senior leasing representative. Responsible for more than 1.6 million sq. ft. of gross leasable area throughout Levin’s extensive management and leasing portfolio, Frantzman handles leasing for Somerset Shopping Center in Bridgewater, N.J., Paramus Place in Paramus, N.J. and Stafford Park Shopping Center in Manahawkin, N.J. He also serves as leasing agent for the retail component of Edgewater Harbor, a mixed-use waterfront redevelopment in Edgewater, N.J.

By Mark Ledbetter, Global VP Retail Strategy, SAP

The changing nature of retail combined with an ever-greater reliance on data is forcing retailers to adjust their workforce and employee skill sets accordingly. From a customer experience standpoint, most retailers are transitioning to a brick-and-click model that aims to ensure customers have a seamless shopping experience regardless of which channel they use.

St. Louis -- A majority (74%) of U.S. contractors are unaware of upcoming 2015 regional standards for unitary air conditioning and heat pump systems, according to a survey by Emerson Climate Technologies Inc. Nearly 80% of contractors were unaware of 2015 part-load efficiency requirements for light commercial split, package and rooftop systems, and 84% are unaware of the 2015 chiller standards. Unlike the 2005 regulation changes, the 2015 changes will affect both residential and commercial efficiency standards.

Management consulting firm Kurt Salmon has named Tom Cole as a partner in its Retail and Consumer Products Group.

Kellogg has elected Stephanie Burns, Ph.D., retired chairperson and CEO of Dow Corning Corporation, and La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to the company’s board of directors.

"Stephanie and La June bring a wealth of experience and leadership from both the business and the philanthropic sectors," said chairman Jim Jenness. "We are proud to welcome these forward-thinking innovators to our board."

Walmart is awarding $1.75 million in grants from the Walmart Foundation to three of the nation’s leading nonprofit organizations: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Urban League (NUL) and United Negro College Fund (UNCF).