Sales & Marketing

BRISBANE, Calif. — Bebe has named global entrepreneur Narry Singh to the company’s board of directors. 

Singh has been an entrepreneur, hands-on executive, adviser and deal-maker for more than 20 years, with a focus on launching and growing businesses in the digital entertainment, new media, e-commerce and software sectors. Singh was recently selected by the United Nations Foundation as one of their Top 10 “Global Entrepreneurs” and will serve as their entrepreneurship and innovation ambassador for two years.

Seattle -- The national vacancy rate for shopping centers dropped slightly from 10.09% to 10.06% in the first quarter of 2013, according to a study by global real estate services company Colliers International. In addition, shopping centers absorbed nearly 4.5 million sq. ft. in the first quarter.

PHOENIX — PetSmart has appointed former Sara Lee executive Carrie Teffner as the company’s new SVP and CFO.

Teffner has more than 20 years of management experience, most recently serving as EVP and CFO at Weber-Stephen Products LLC, a leading manufacturer and exporter of barbecue grills and accessories worldwide.

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners said it has appointed Bob Taylor as senior VP in the New York office.

This is Taylor’s second stint with SRS.  In his first, he directed Hard Rock Café’s national expansion and relocation efforts. Taylor will be focused on tenant and landlord representation for the New York team, and returns to SRS from Cassidy Turley, The Staubach Co., and Staubach Retail.

GREAT NECK, N.Y. — FamilyPet Network has re-launched its revamped e-commerce platform, Coupaw.com — a site that offers pet owners deals on a wide variety of pet care products and services.

The newly designed site features a streamlined user interface, an improved shopping cart and faster order-to-checkout processing speeds. Coupaw.com offers daily deals to users on items like pet supplies, treats, pet sitting services and home goods.

Beachwood, Ohio -- DDR Corp. announced a strategic agreement with MobileBits Holdings Corp., provider of SAMY, a mobile marketing and engagement platform, to acquire DDR's proprietary location-based mobile marketing solution ValuText.

MobileBits will integrate the ValuText product into the SAMY solution and will make the solution available to DDR tenants and shopping centers. SAMY is an innovative 'mobile mall' application that allows shoppers to gain instant access to the latest discounts, coupons and loyalty cards, via their mobile devices.

WESTBORO, Mass. — BJ's Wholesale will leverage Micros-Retail's loss prevention and business analytics solution, XBR Ingenium, to increase its asset protection team’s investigative capabilities and productivity.

Micros-Retail XBR Ingenium will allow BJ’s to generate flexible and behavioral exception reports, so it can focus on key areas of fraudulent activity. The business solution offers an interactive dashboard, so field users can quickly spot high-risk areas in their stores and districts.  

Washington, D.C. -- Total retail sales increased 0.1% in April from March, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Commerce Department. The increase, an improvement from a 0.5% decline in March, beat the 0.3% drop economists had predicted in a Bloomberg survey.  

Excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, sales  increased 0.6% seasonally adjusted from last month and increased 3.9% unadjusted year-over-year, according to the National Retail Federation.