Christian Davies Joins Fitch … and More

MANAGEMENT CHANGES

Columbus, Ohio-based design firm Fitch has appointed Christian Davies executive creative director, Americas. Trained as an interior designer, Davies began his career at Fitch’s London office nearly 20 years ago.

Arc Worldwide (Chicago), the marketing services arm of Leo Burnett, has hired Glennon Schaffner as vp, retail innovation specialist for McDonald’s. Schaffner’s 19-year career includes working with such brands as M&M’s World Times Square, Marriott, Procter & Gamble, Limited Express and Victoria’s Secret.

Häfele America Co. (Archdale, N.C.), a furniture, cabinet, closet and architectural hardware supplier, has added three new sales representatives: Bob Minkin, Colorado territory; Mike Pierce, Southern California; and Jessica Earhart, Eastern Pennsylvania. Walt Maxwell has been hired as a new channel sales manager.

Vocon, a Cleveland-based architectural and interior design firm, has hired Thomas Lang as information technology director. Lang will be responsible for overall planning, organizing and execution of all information technology functions throughout the company.

STORE OPENINGS

hhgregg (Indianapolis) recently opened its first stores in Delaware and New Jersey, along with six new stores in Pennsylvania. The store locations include: Dover, Newark and Wilmington, Del.; Lawrenceville, Mays Landing and Woodbury, N.J.; and Downingtown; Langhorne, North Wales, Philadelphia, Whitehall and Wyomissing, Pa.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

3M (St. Paul, Minn.) has launched a new online service, called 3M Visual Attention Service, for graphic designers, communicators and marketers to test the impact of graphic designs. The online tool analyzes visual elements within an image, such as color, shape, contrast and text, to accurately predict if a design’s visual hierarchy is strong enough to attract a viewer’s attention. For more information, visit http://www.3M.com/vas

Artistic Tile (Secaucus, N.J.) has opened a new West Coast studio in San Francisco, at Showplace East, 111 Rhode Island St., Suite 15. Pam Katz has been hired as studio manager.

Process Displays (New Berlin, Wis.), a fully-integrated provider of retail marketing and merchandising programs, recently broke ground on a new 136,000-square-foot facility. The LEED-certified building will combine a state-of-the-art Retail Design Center with integrated production operations to more efficiently serve the company’s major brand and retail clients.

AWARDS

The 22nd annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), held this month, included the ICFF Editors Awards Ceremony, which bestowed awards in 16 categories: Body of Work: Blu Dot; New Designer: Objeti LLC and Studio Dunn; Craftsmanship: Cocochi Design; Furniture: Mabeo; Seating: Arper spa; Carpet and Flooring: Ardeco Interier Sro; Lighting Peter Stathis & Virtual Studio; Outdoor Furniture: Snow Peak Inc.; Materials: Triple Pin Blue Denim Tiles presented by Material ConneXion Inc.; Wall Coverings: Timorous Beasties; Accessories: Kikkerland Design Inc.; and Textiles: Dana Barnes Design. For more information, visit icff.com.