MANAGEMENT CHANGES
Retail design firm Callison (Seattle) has hired Shawn Rush as associate principal. She will focus on business development in the Global Retail studio, which includes national accounts and workplace interiors.
Design consultancy Fitch (Columbus, Ohio) has added two new hires: David Vilkama as associate design director and Margot Sheehan as client director.
Häfele America Co. (Archdale, N.C.) has hired Michael Clarke as the new dealer sales manager for Southern California. Clarke brings over 25 years of sales experience most recently with Emtek Products Inc., where he was director of sales.
STORE OPENINGS
American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (Pittsburgh) has signed a franchise agreement with Sumikin Bussan Corp., a fashion marketer, importer and exporter, to open and operate American Eagle and aerie stores in Japan. The first store opening in Tokyo's Harajuku shopping district is planned for the first half of 2012.
Abercrombie & Fitch has retained retail design firm Callison (Seattle) as its architect of record to implement its expansion for Hollister in the U.K. and Germany. A total of five stores have opened with approximately 10 more locations planned. The firm is also helping with the execution of the first international Gilly Hicks store in London, and Urban Outfitters’ expansion of the Urban Outfitters brand in Brighton, U.K. and Berlin.
Dunkin' Donuts (Canton, Mass.) has signed a store development agreement with three franchisees to develop six new restaurants in Detroit area over the next several years.
Three restaurants will open in 2011 and the remaining units are scheduled to open by 2014.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
GreenbergFarrow, a New York-based architectural, planning, development and consulting firm, served as design architect and the architect of record for East River Plaza, the 650,000-square-foot retail center on the FDR Drive in East Harlem.
Southern Imperial Inc. (Rockford, Ill., display and fixture products manufacturer) announces the release of its 2011 Security Resource Guide, which showcases the new loss prevention solutions for retail environments and brand manufacturers.
Inter-disciplinary design firm Sasaki (Watertown, Mass.) and Hacin + Associates (H+A, Boston), a boutique architectural and interior design practice, have formed a strategic partnership. This relationship will allow the two firms to extend their design capabilities and strengthen their presence in core markets, while they will retain their own identities and operations.
WAC Lighting Intl. has opened a state-of-the-art Training Center, Light Lab and Showroom in Shanghai, China. WAC Lighting is a U.S.-based designer and manufacturer of track, recessed, undercabinet, monorail and decorative lighting.
COMPETITIONS
The Planning and Visual Education Partnership (PAVE, Hollywood, Fla.) has announced the 12 finalists for the 2010-11 PAVE the Way 3D Design Challenge for college students in store design, interior design, visual merchandising, and industrial design programs. The competition, sponsored and presented by B&N Industries (Burlingame, Calif.), challenged students to design a store fixture to sell pet accessories or products and include a 3-D rendering of the design for judging. B&N will work with the 12 finalists to produce prototypes of their designs for display at GlobalShop 2011 and the award winners will be announced during A.R.E.’s Design Awards program on March 28.
The 12 finalists are: Amanda Archibald and Marissa Ferraro, Run Round Hamster Wheel, Marywood University, Scranton, Pa.; Jordan C. Bartek, PAVE the Way, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Ky.; Laura Heekin, petDora, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati; Johnlery Itugot, Doggy Couture, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; David Jenny and Hitomi Kashimoto, plAy Dog, University of Tokyo, Tokyo; Katherine Lashua, Hare Raising, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; Minjae Lee, Playground, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, Mo. and Sangmyung University, Seoul, South Korea; Kelsey Miller, Pampered Pups, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; Louis Sanders, Love Bite, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; Mona Lisa Tan and Kungpill Yoon, PAVE the Way – Ralph Lauren, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; Sung Scott Truong, Better Betta Display, California State University, Long Beach, Calif.; Gregory Vanderpol and Catherine Morse, Hermes Talaris Saddle Display, California State University, Long Beach, Calif.