Consumer Electronics

Whirlpool has appointed Diane Dietz, executive VP and chief marketing officer of Safeway, to its board of directors, effective immediately.

"Diane Dietz's history of leadership in the consumer products industry makes her an outstanding addition to our board," said Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool chairman and CEO. "We know her breadth of experience in driving sales and building successful brands will be invaluable to our board of directors and Whirlpool Corporation." 

Watchung, N.J. -- North Plainfield, N.J.-based Levin Management Corp. said that The Children’s Place will join the tenant roster at Blue Star Shopping Center in Watchung, N.J., this spring.

Levin is the property’s managing and leasing agent.

Children’s Place leased 4,307 sq. ft. at the 419,000-sq.-ft. property, and will join other children’s retailers Toys “R” Us, Becker’s School Supplies and GameStop at the center, as well as Kohl's, ShopRite, Michaels and Marshalls, among others.

WASHINGTON — The Lenovo ThinkPad T430s topped TopTen USA's list for energy-efficiency.

The nonprofit group, appaluded he fact that the laptop uses only 7.4 kilowatt hours of electricity in a year of typical use. The average comparable model uses 28 kWh per year—almost 4 times the energy.  On average, TopTen-listed laptops use about half (48%) the energy of comparable models.

Cherry Hill, N.J. -- Conshohocken, Pa.-based Fameco Real Estate announced that Red Robin has signed a lease at the Plaza at Cherry Hill, Cherry Hill, N.J.

The 6,000-sq.-ft. restaurant will join anchors LA Fitness, Raymour & Flanigan, Guitar Center, Sam Ash and Bottom Dollar at the 450,000-sq.-ft. power center.

South Bay, Calif. -- South Bay Galleria marketing manager Sherilyn Haddon announced that the Los Angeles County mall will add three new stores to its list of retailers, including Aeropostale and P.S. From Aeropostale.

Tutti Frutti yogurt will also open at the mall.

The P.S. From Aeropostale store will be directly connected to the new Aeropostale store; both are slated to open in May 2013. Tutti Frutti is expected to open at Center Court in March 2013.
 

Miami Beach, Fla. -- Electric vehicle charging company Car Charging Group said Wednesday that former Wal-Mart Stores president and CEO Bill Fields has been appointed to its board of directors.

Retail veteran Fields has also led Blockbuster Entertainment Group as its chairman and CEO and also served in the same capacity at Hudson’s Bay Co.

NEW YORK -- Retailing Today's sister publication, Chain Store Age has awarded Simons, Canada’s eclectic and fashion-forward department store retailer, top honors in its 31st annual Retail Store of the Year design competition. The company’s 118,000-sq.-ft. store in West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, Canada, was named Store of the Year. Designed by figure3, Toronto, Simons also was the winning entry in the department store category.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. and BOCA RATON, Fla. — The office retail field narrowed Wednesday, as OfficeMax and Office Depot officially announced an agreement to merge into a single company. The combined company would have had pro forma combined revenue for the 12 months ended Dec. 29, 2012 of approximately $18 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, OfficeMax stockholders will receive 2.69 Office Depot common shares for each share of OfficeMax common stock.