News Briefs

Pinterest Inc. has tapped an Amazon executive as its next finance chief.

The visual search and shopping platform has appointed James Dibbo as CFO, effective Oct. 26. He will report to Pinterest CEO Bill Ready.

Dibbo joins Pinterest from Amazon, where he most recently served as VP and CFO for global entertainment, advertising and corporate development. In that role, he led finance for businesses including Amazon Ads, Prime Video, Amazon MGM Studios, Music, Audible and Twitch, and partnered on corporate development activity across the portfolio. 

During his decade at Amazon, Dibbo also served as CFO of Worldwide Consumer and CFO of North America Consumer, helping to scale global operations, strengthen profitability and build the systems and teams required for sustained growth.

[READ MORE: Pinterest teams with Nvidia to better support AI shopping]

Before Amazon, Dibbo was CFO of P.F. Chang’s. He previously held senior finance leadership positions at Tesco and at BT Group.

Centennial continues to add to its lengthening list of third-party management accounts, winning assignments from two grocery-anchored centers in Texas and Massachusetts.

Lakeway Commons in Shrewsbury, Mass., (pictured at right) is a 100,000-sq.-ft. center anchored by a 50,000-sq.-ft. Whole Foods Market. The property combines grocery with a mix of dining and service-oriented tenants that include Starbucks, Tavern in the Square and Burtons Grill. Centennial will also handle leasing at this center.

Casis Village in Austin’s affluent Tarrytown neighborhood is a 48,500-sq.-ft. grocery-anchored center serving everyday shopping, dining and service needs. Anchored by Randalls, the property features a mix of local and national tenants including Tarrytown Pharmacy, Starbucks and Estilo.

“Grocery-anchored and open-air retail has long been an important part of Centennial’s business, and we’ve built deep expertise operating these assets in markets across the country,” said Paul Kurzawa, Centennial’s president and CEO. “Casis Village and Lakeway Commons are strong additions to our growing third-party management platform. We look forward to bringing an owner’s mindset and a hands-on approach to both.” 

Centennial’s property portfolio has been advancing at a steady pace since it was acquired by the Lincoln Property Company earlier this year, now covering 25 million square feet of retail space across 18 states. The company’s official name became “Centennial, powered by Lincoln” when the deal was done. 

The formerly high-flying The Limited brand has a new owner with big plans to revive it.

CP Brands Group, whose portfolio of owned or licensed brands includes Thomas Pink, Wrangler, Vince and others, has purchased The Limited, reported Women’s Wear Daily. The brand was owned by Sycamore Partners, which purchased the former retailer and its intellectual property through a bankruptcy auction in 2017 for $26.8 million.

Sycamore went on use The Limited name to create a private-label brand at one of its other holdings, Belk, the report said. In 2024, Sycamore sold Belk to its existing lenders,

“My team and I are always on the lookout for heritage brands that can be refreshed and rebranded,” CP Brands CEO Eli Yedid told WWD. “I think there’s a lot of value from a business standpoint in doing that. And we’re ready to recreate and reinvigorate a brand that’s been around since 1963."

The Boulder Group, a net leased investment brokerage firm, completed the sale of a four-property portfolio of single-tenant net leased Dollar General properties all located in Michigan for $8.3 million.

The newly-constructed stores are located in Gaylord, Reed City, Honor and Vermontville, giving Dollar General geographic diversity in the northern, western and central regions of the state.

The properties are situated in established communities with convenient highway access, and several benefit from steady year-round tourism and outdoor recreation traffic, according to The Boulder Group. 

Each property in the portfolio is leased to Dollar General on an absolute triple-net lease with no landlord responsibilities. Three of the four properties have 10,640-sq.-ft. Dollar General Plus prototypes, which is a larger store format for the discount chain, offering an expanded assortment of fresh and refrigerated products.

The leases feature 5% rental increases every five years during the primary term and five five-year renewal options with 5% increases at each option. The leases are guaranteed at the corporate level by Dollar General, which carries an investment-grade credit rating of BBB.

“Newer construction Dollar General properties with absolute triple net leases and an investment-grade corporate guaranty continue to be among the most sought-after offerings in the net lease sector,” said Jimmy Goodman, Boulder Group’s president.

Staples is expanding its retail partnership with Party City just in time for the holiday season.

The office supplies retailer is opening approximately 120 additional Party City shop-in-shop locations across 27 states throughout the holiday season. The rollout is already underway and will continue through early December.

In April, Staples announced plans to open Party City shops in more than 700 stores nationwide and also on Staples.com. The rollout came after Party City filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2024 with plans to commence a “wind down" of its retail and wholesale operations. The retailer went on to close its approximate 700 stores nationwide. 

At the shop-in-shop locations, customers can find Party City’s selection of balloons, décor, party supplies and more, while also having the option to create personalized invitations, banners, yard signs and posters through Staples' print services.

A Staples spokesperson told Chain Store Age that the expansion is not seasonal, adding that it is a permanent change that reflects the “early success of the partnership and positive customer response.”

“The early success of our partnership with Party City has shown us that customers value the convenience of finding more of what they need in one place," said Marshall Warkentin, president of Staples U.S. Retail. "We’re excited to bring Party City’s assortment to approximately 120 additional Staples stores, giving even more communities easy access to costumes, décor and party essentials, just in time for the holiday season." 

[READ MORE: Staples launches 'Hard vs. Easy' campaign to highlight workplace solutions]

Headquartered near Boston, Staples serves customers throughout North America through direct B2B sales, e-commerce and more than 900 retail stores.