Consumer Electronics

Richmond, Va. -- Divaris Real Estate, Inc. announced the signing of four leases, totaling 14,362 sq. ft. of office, industrial and retail space in metropolitan Richmond, Virginia.

The Hohman Group signed a lease for 6,307 sq. ft. of industrial space located at 3409 Leigh Street. The Hohman Group is an industrial design firm, which designs and prototypes products and furniture. In addition, their company, Action Figures, builds sets and decorates locations for motion pictures.

Franklin, Tenn. -- The retail and hospitality market is entering a time of unprecedented IT growth for 2015, with overall spending expected to increase 5% over 2014  and surpass $190 billion worldwide, according to a new report by IHL, a global research and advisory firm specializing in technologies for the retail and hospitality industries.

New York - Nook Media, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble Inc., together with video game manufacturer Rovio, will make the upcoming “Angry Birds Stella” game available for preview exclusively at Barnes & Noble stores from Aug. 29 to Sept. 3. During that time, customers can come to any Barnes & Noble store nationwide and visit the Nook Counter to play the game, before anyone else, on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook in-store demo devices.

Birmingham, Ala. -- Books-A-Million appointed James Phelps as VP e-commerce. For nearly 15 years, Phelps has been a leader in e-commerce, serving with retailers including HSN, Kohl’s Department Stores, and Brookstone.

Boston - Nearly 80% of college students describe themselves as “more cost-conscious this year than a year ago.” However, according to a recent back-to-school survey of 1,420 U.S. college students by college marketing agency Fluent, students said they are willing to make an exception to the low-spending rule and anticipate spending “more than they should” in select categories, specifically clothing, technology and dorm room accessories.

Following are key highlights from the survey:

H&M’s new Fifth Avenue flagship in Manhattan is the fast-fashion giant’s largest store in the world, a whopping 57,000 sq. ft. Beyond its sheer size, the store breaks new ground for the Swedish retailer in a number of other ways. Here are five big ones:

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. earned $146 million in the second quarter, down from $266 million in the year-ago period, topping analysts earnings estimates even as its revenue fell short. Its results were helped by ongoing cost reductions. Best Buy cut $40 million in annual costs last quarter, bringing the total to $900 million.

For the quarter ended Aug. 3, revenue dropped to $8.89 billion from $9.27 billion. Analysts had expected $8.99 billion. Same-store sales fell 2.7%, which was more than analysts had expected.

Fort Worth Texas – Hedge fund Standard General LP, RadioShack’s second-largest shareholder, is reportedly trying to negotiate a “rescue package” by obtaining debt and equity financing from outside investors. According Bloomberg, Standard General is also meeting with RadioShack management to create a plan that will let the retailer avoid filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.