Mass Merchant

New York City -- Safeway will combat an aggressive crop of new rivals with an expansion that includes nine stores in the West, of which six will be in the San Francisco Bay area, according to the Oakland Tribune.

The chain plans to open stores in Pleasanton, Castro Valley, El Cerrito, Campbell, Los Gatos and Burlingame. It also is working to obtain city approvals for stores in Pleasant Hill, Emeryville and Berkeley, the report said, and is eyeing a new store in the Oakland hills.

In the February issue of Chain Store Age, in our focus on mall-based social media (page 52), we referenced a fourth quarter 2010 study by Alexander Babbage, entitled the “Shopping Center Social Media Benchmark Report.”

Following are more details about the study, which found that “social media tools and networks are making it easier for shopping centers to relay information, interact with customers and generally stay connected.” 

NEW YORK -- New York & Company announced that it has promoted Gregory Scott, president, to the role of CEO effective Feb. 12. As previously announced, Richard Crystal, current chairman and CEO, will retire from the company and its board of directors effective Feb. 11. Grace Nichols, who has served as a director since March 2008, will assume the role of non-executive chair of the board effective Feb. 12. Scott will remain a director of New York & Company’s board, which will be comprised of ten members.

San Francisco -- Gap announced Tuesday that Marka Hansen president of Gap North America, has resigned, effective Feb. 4.

According to Glenn Murphy, Gap chairman and CEO, the decision to change leadership was mutual.

“After several conversations, Marka and I agreed this was the right time for a change in the organization in order to take Gap brand to a new level,” he said.

The apparel retailer said it has identified an internal successor to Hansen, who will be announced in the next day.

Santa Monica, Calif. -- Privately held European women’s apparel retailer, Desigual, said it has leased nearly 6,400 sq. ft. on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica from landlord Promenade Gateway, an affiliate of Maxxam Enterprises.

The store will serve as Desigual’s flagship West Coast location. The retailer currently has more than 170 retail locations and approximately 450 shop-in-shops in major department stores across Europe and Asia.

Irvine, Calif. -- KTGY Group, Architecture and Planning, said that Diane's Beachwear will be opening its newest store in Scottsdale, Ariz., at the Scottsdale Quarter in early March.

The new 1,200-sq.-ft. flagship store represents the 19-store chain's debut outside of California. KTGY is the architect for the new Diane's Beachwear store.   Skyline Development and Construction of Norco, Calif., is the general contractor.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Walmart announced that it is offering 20,000 free tickets to the America I AM: The African-American Imprint tour, of which Walmart is a presenting sponsor. America I AM, a four-year touring exhibition that celebrates nearly 500 years of African-American contributions to this country, will make its Washington, D.C. debut at the National Geographic Museum on Feb. 2.

City of Industry, Calif. -- Hot Topic said Monday that Chris Daniel, president of the company’s plus-size Torrid division, has resigned effective April 29.

The company has named Betsy McLaughlin as interim head of Torrid upon Daniel’s departure, and said it will conduct an outside search for a permanent replacement.