Home Improvement

GE has launched a sweepstakes featuring its Dalmatian mascot, Artie, giving participants a chance to win a GE Artistry Series suite. The sweepstakes, which ends Tuesday, Jan. 7, is hosted on the manufacturer’s website and is designed to introduce Millennials to the brand.

Plymouth, Minn. – The Tile Shop is launching its third retail store in the Boston metropolitan area. The new 15,805-sq.-ft. store will be located in the Worcester suburb of Shrewsbury, Mass.

The new store will join The Tile Shop’s other Boston area stores in Natick and Avon, Mass.

Reston, Va. -- Holiday season U.S. retail e-commerce spending from desktop computers for the first 52 days of the November-December 2013 holiday season totaled $42.8 billion, an increase of 10% from the same period one year ago. However, new comScore data shows that the final online shopping week saw considerably softer sales than anticipated, including zero billion dollar spending days.

Avon, Mass. – SelecTech, Inc., a provider of flooring products made from recycled materials, is launching a retail/franchise division. Based out of the company’s corporate headquarters in Avon, Mass., the new division will feature customer service and marketing representatives specifically dedicated to retail and franchise customers with multiple locations.

North Olmsted, Ohio — Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services has arranged the sale of North Olmsted Towne Center, a 95,446-sq.-ft. shopping center in North Olmsted, Ohio, approximately 17 miles southwest of Cleveland. The selling price was $17.79 million, $186 per square foot.

Towne Center tenants include David’s Bridal, The Tile Shop, Jimmy John’s, La-Z-Boy, Men’s Wearhouse, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Party City and Pearle Vision.

Bob Varakian and and Stephen Spitz were appointed to new roles at leading kitchenware and tabletop manufacturer Lifetime Brands.

The company said Bob Varakian will serve as group president over its cutlery/cutting boards and cookware/bakeware divisions effective January 6. He will report to Lifetime chairman and CEO Jeffrey Siegel. The company also named Stephen Spitz to the role of president for the cutlery/cutting boards division and he will report to Varakian.

Electrolux plans to expand its North American headquarters, their second expansion at this location in three years, and will be adding 810 new local jobs as a result.

The new jobs are in the areas of research and development, marketing, design, engineering, supply chain, finance, IT and executive management, and will be added by the end of 2017.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. household purchases rose 0.5% in November 2013. According to new figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce, this followed a 0.4% increase in October that was larger than previously reported and is the largest increase since July 2013.