Sales & Marketing

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Office Depot didn’t have to look far in its search for a new agency of record, as the Boca Raton, Fla.-based office supplies and services company announced the selection of Fort Lauderdale-based Zimmerman Advertising.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. -- Mid-America Asset Management said that several retail leases have been completed at six shopping centers in Chicago’s western suburbs. Mid-America is the exclusive leasing representative of each of the centers.

The Shops at South Elgin (South Elgin, Ill.) signed a lease for 6,604 sq. ft. with independent health food/vitamin retailer Fruitful Yield, to expand the current tenant’s space by 3,264 sq. ft. The newly expanded store is expected to open June 1.

Target began its in-store recycling program just nine months ago, and some of the early numbers from the program are staggering. Between April 2010, when the program was launched, and December 2010, the company collected and recycled more than 170 million shopping bags and more than 1.4 million pounds of cans and bottles. In addition, the company said it collected roughly two million units of small electronic items such as MP3 players and cell phones.

St. Paul, Minn. -- Paster Enterprises announced that Aldi has opened at Crystal Town Center, in St. Paul, Minn.

The new grocery store anchor measures 17,929-sq.-ft.
 

The iPad is an amazing product that offers a wonderful user experience, which is why everyone wants one. It also doesn’t hurt that retailers of all types have become quite aggressive in their promotional efforts on behalf of Apple, since the popular device makes a meaningful contribution to sales in addition to providing those retailers who feature the device with some of that Apple “it” factor.

Millcreek, Pa. -- Chestnut Hill, Mass.-based WS Development and Olympic Realty & Development Corp. announced that they have closed on 42 acres of land in Millcreek, Pa., in conjunction with Walmart.

The land is the future home of Millcreek Town Center, a 350,000-sq.-ft. open-air shopping center, which will include a new Walmart and approximately 160,000 sq. ft. of additional retail and restaurant space.

BRISBANE, Calif. -- Walmart announced that it has acquired the services of Kosmix, a Mountain View, Calif.-based company to grow its multi-channel strategy.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores said Monday it is acquiring Mountain View, Calif.-based social media company Kosmix to help strengthen its social and mobile commerce.
 
Wal-Mart, which has not disclosed the terms of the transaction, said it is interested in a social media technology platform Kosmix has developed that filters and organizes content in social networks to connect people with information that may be of interest to them.