Mass Merchant

New York -- Shaky consumer confidence and increased efficiencies among retailers may put a damper on retailers’ holiday hiring plans, according to global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

In its annual holiday hiring forecast, Challenger estimated that seasonal job gains will not see a significant decline from last year’s robust numbers, but they are likely to at best match the level of hiring that occurred in October, November, and December 2012.

Imagine you are at in a major department store’s corporate headquarters as your team prepares numbers for the upcoming holiday season. The frenetic pace of retail holiday hiring can frazzle even the most experienced manager, and diligently checking every box in the employee onboarding process can seem laughably optimistic in the rush to find, hire and get as many employees as possible going in a matter of days.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Pier 1 Imports has named Eric Hunter as executive VP of marketing, responsible for the company’s brand image and integrated marketing efforts. He most recently served as senior VP of marketing and acting chief marketing officer for J.C. Penney Co., where he led strategy, research, creative, media, customer relationship management and digital direction for the JCP enterprise brand and all JCP-owned brands.

Meriden, Conn. — A TJX Marshall’s store has leased a 23,137-sq.-ft. space at the Meriden Mall in Meriden, Conn. Charter Realty and Development represented the TJX Company in the transaction. Charter Realty is TJX’s exclusive broker for Connecticut, and this is the 25th lease TJX lease the company has arranged.

Anchored by Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Macy’s, the 894,435-sq.-ft. mall, owned by The Westfield Group, has 142 stores and ranks as the seventh largest mall in Connecticut.

Norton, Va. — Rivercrest Realty Associates has acquired the 81,297-sq.-ft. Norton Commons shopping center in Norton, Va., for $6,910,000.

Divaris Real Estate represented the seller, General Electric Credit Equities, in the transaction. At the time of the sale, the center, anchored by Burke’s Outlet, was 98% occupied.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. reportedly plans to hire 70,000 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season, about 20% less than the 88,000 seasonal workers it hired for last year’s holiday season.

According to the Associated Press, Target wants to give full-time employees more opportunity to take on extra holiday hours. The retailer also wants to better anticipate and schedule for fluctuations in holiday traffic. About one-third of seasonal employees brought on last year obtained full-time jobs at Target.

Burlington, Mass. — Torchlight Investors has sold the property at 476 Boston Turnpike. KeyPoint Partners represented Torchlight in the transaction.

B-W Warrenville Operations bought the property, a former Borders Books store, prominently located in a retail-intensive section of Route 9 near Stop & Shop, Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, Bob’s Stores and Staples.

The new owner plans to redevelop the site for Buffalo Wild Wings and Tile Shop.

Arlington, Va. — Forest City has acquired Macy’s Furniture Store building at the Ballston Common Mall from Macy’s. Forest City, the owner, developer and manager of the mall, plans to redevelop the property and add mixed uses including residential and office. The Home Store, which is connected to the mall on three levels, is the first step in the redevelopment.