Home Improvement

Chattanooga, Tenn. — CBL & Associates Properties has announced its newest community center development, Parkway Plaza, a 134,100-sq.-ft. project in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. Construction will begin in June, with the grand opening scheduled for spring 2015. Once complete, the 16+-acre site will offer several national retailers new to the area including anchor stores Hobby Lobby, Marshalls and Petco.

Minneapolis - The Tile Shop has expanded its presence into New Mexico with the opening of its Albuquerque store. The Tile Shop’s new 22,000-sq.-ft. Albuquerque location features fully decorated, room-size displays — kitchens, baths, and other spaces within a home, as well as premium lighting and plumbing fixtures that allow homeowners to see what their Tile Shop tile and stone will look like installed in their home.

Jarden Corporation has appointed Ros L'Esperance to its board of directors, bringing the total number of members to 10, seven of whom are independent directors.

Villanova, Pa. -- Ceelite Technologies has introduced a new LED product line it calls Illumastrip, which serves as an alternative to LED tubes and fluorescent tubes for standard fixtures such as strips, vapor tights and troffers.

The new Illumstrip products can be installed in existing or new fixtures, and reduce energy by 50%-75% with an ROI of under three years, according to the company.

Atlanta -- The requirements of the 2013 revision of an energy standard recently published by ASHRAE and IES will result in buildings that could achieve 6% to 8% more efficiency than buildings built to the 2010 standard.

Published in October 2013, ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, provides minimum requirements for the energy-efficient design of buildings except low-rise residential buildings.

New York -- Phoenix-based Sprouts Farmers Markets Inc. is expanding. The natural-foods supermarket chain expects to open 22 to 24 stores in fiscal 2014, including five locations in the Atlanta area.

Sprouts currently operates more than 165 locations in eight states.

Meanwhile, Gap Inc. continues to expand its newest banner, Athleta, with about 30 additional U.S. stores on tap for fiscal year 2014.

In more store expansion news:

Lowe's has named Michael A. Jones as the company's chief customer officer, effective April 30. Jones currently serves as Lowe's chief merchandising officer, overseeing the full merchandise offering for all Lowe's U.S. stores and Lowes.com, as well as all global sourcing activities.  

Jones will succeed Gregory M. Bridgeford, who plans to retire after 32 years with the company.

In his new role, Jones will be responsible for overseeing customer experience design, merchandising, marketing and communications and digital interfaces.

Home appliance and consumer electronics manufacturer Haier America has chosen the northern New Jersey town of Wayne as the location of its new 56,000-sq.-ft. U.S. headquarters.

The new facility will be home to 200 employees, training centers, customer service operations and a product showroom where retailers can see new products and concepts. Renovations are currently underway on a building at 1800 Valley Road in Wayne, N.J., that will replace the company’s current office at 1356 Broadway in Manhattan this fall.