For the Week of February 23rd

MICE North America (Las Vegas design firm) has opened an office in Dallas and appointed the following staff: Mark Wilkinson, president and general manager; Elizabeth Thomas, James Hamilton and Scott Hughes, senior account executives; Trisha Kee, account executive; Randy Bennett, design director; and Jeff Cantrell, operations manager.

B-K Lighting (Madera, Calif., lighting manufacturer) announced that president and ceo Douglas Hagen has acquired 100 percent of the company's outstanding shares. Bruce Kalkowski and Brad Kious, founding members of B-K Lighting, are semi-retiring and pursuing other business interests.

ETC Architectural (Middleton, Wis., design firm) has promoted Joe Bokelman to architectural market manager, responsible for architectural lighting strategies and product-management duties.

Party City Upstate New York/Erie, Pa. (Rochester, N.Y., party goods retailer) has named John Gaffney president of its 10 stores.

Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design (New York lighting design firm) has hired the following designers: Justin Horvath, Los Angeles office; Steven Espinoza and Eleni Savvidou, New York office; and Josie Lawrence and Jay Wratten, San Francisco office.

The Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA, Washington, D.C., trade association) has named Brad Davis to a two-year term as its chairman. Davis is executive vp and chief marketing officer of Washington Mutual, a Seattle-based bank.

National Association of Display Industries (NADI, Hollywood, Fla., trade association representing visual merchandisers) held its inaugural ShopTalk brainstorming sessions during VM+SD's StoreXpo in New York in December 2003. Roundtable discussions were led by Walt Disney Imagineering's Tony Mancini, J.C. Penney's Michael Cape and Target's Judy Bell. The next ShopTalk will take place in Dusseldorf during EuroShop 2005.

Design Within Reach (San Francisco furniture retailer) to 225 Bush St., 20th floor, San Francisco, CA 94104. Phone: 415-676-6500; fax: 415-676-6799.

JHP Design (London design firm) is teaming with Esprit's in-house design team to create a three-level store on Oxford Street, in central London. The new Esprit store is slated to open in May.

Hanson Associates Inc. (Philadelphia branding and design firm) has created a new logo and interior/exterior treatments for Cottman Transmission, a Fort Washington, Pa., operator of more than 400 car repair centers.

American Leather (Dallas furniture manufacturer) has appointed the following representatives for its Hospitality Contract Sales Division: Jim Hurley & Associates, for north Florida; Mainsource, for Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee; Hill & Associates, for Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas; Carrene Ressa & Associates, for Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.; and Mitch Zerg & Associates, for California and Las Vegas.

Image Resources Inc. (Wichita, Kan., design and exhibit company) has been selected by the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame to design and install display and exhibit areas within the Wichita-based museum.

The New York Gift Building (New York showroom building) is under contract for sale. A partnership consisting of affiliates of Olympus Real Estate Partners, The Milestone Group and Murray Hill Properties has agreed to buy the building at 225 Fifth Ave. for an undisclosed sum from Green Stamp America. The new owners plan to continue housing gift-industry showrooms in the building.

W.A.C. Lighting (Garden City, N.Y., lighting firm) has named Phoenix-based R.C. Lurie Co. as its commercial lighting sales agency in Arizona.

VGS (New York signage firm) has designed and installed signage in two of Boston College's largest dining facilities. VGS created overhead food-station identifiers and menu boards in the dining halls.