Sales & Marketing

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar Stores has named Trey Johnson to the newly created position of senior VP – food.

Johnson comes to Family Dollar from Sears Holdings where he created a limited assortment food concept for K-Mart. He also led the development of Wal-Mart’s Marketside format as its chief merchandising officer.
 

NEW YORK — Tiffany & Co. said Thursday it plans to open a store in New York’s SoHo neighborhood in September 2012.

The 7,000-sq.-ft. store will occupy a space that combines two locations -- 97 Greene Street and 106 Wooster Street. 

The 2012 opening corresponds to Tiffany’s 175th anniversary of its founding on Lower Broadway in the 1850s.

Santa Paula, Calif. -- Centro Properties Group US announced a 2,000-sq.-ft. lease has been executed with Panda Express at Santa Paula Shopping Center, located in Santa Paula, Calif.

Centro Properties Group, based in New York City, is the owner of Santa Paula Shopping Center.
 

New York City -- Centro Properties Group US announced the recent lease executions of two Citi Trends locations. A 13,500-sq.-ft. lease has been executed at Lehigh Shopping Center, in Bethlehem, Pa., and a 12,000-sq.-ft. location will open at Kline Plaza, located in Harrisburg, Pa.

Both Lehigh Shopping Center and Kline Plaza are owned by Centro Properties, based in New York City.
 

New York City -- Chipotle Mexican Grill has opened a new format, called ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, in Washington, D.C.’s, DuPont Circle neighborhood.

The Asian-themed eatery uses the same set-up as the company’s namesake restaurants, with customers able to customize the food offerings.
 

New York City -- The International Council of Shopping Centers said it expects holiday sales to increase 3% this year, which is below the 4.1% gain in 2010.

Holiday sales are expected to reach $250.2 billion, the highest since the 2007 peak, when spending totaled $251.7 billion, according to the group, whose forecast is among the first to come out for the holiday 2011 shopping season.

The ICSC predicted that holiday same-store sales will rise 3.5%, slightly lower than the 3.8% pace in 2010.

HONG KONG — On the heels of a 98% drop in its yearly earnings, Esprit Holdings said it is divesting its North American businesses and exiting three major European markets.

The company said it is actively looking for a partner willing to acquire its North American operations, which include 93 stores in the United States.

WASHINGTON — A report released Thursday by Bloomberg said that U.S. consumer confidence held last week at the second-lowest level of 2011 as the highest number of households in three years said it was a bad time to spend. 

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was minus 49.3 in the period to Sept. 11, near the 2011 low of minus 49.4 reached in May. The buying climate gauge slumped to the lowest level since October 2008.

According to the report, the majority -- nine out of 10 -- of Americans polled had a negative view on the economy.