Management Changes:
Trimco (Brooklyn, N.Y., provider of visual merchandising materials for retailers) has hired
Brad Bonessi as its vp, sales and business development. Bonessi was previously divisional vp and director of stores for Filene's/Kaufmann's.
Philips Lighting Co. NA (Somerset, N.J., affiliate of Royal Philips Electronics) has named K.R. (Kaj) den Daas ceo.
spg3 (Philadelphia design firm) announced that David Kepron, principal, retail design, has been named a shareholder and that it has hired the following: Bruce Keller, project manager; Ulises Navarrete, retail/entertainment and hospitality projects team; Andrew Budzynski, fashion & lifestyle studio; and Matthew Woodcock , retail and theater team.
Davaco Inc. (Dallas provider of retail services) has named Todd Suskin director, national accounts.
Alcan Composites USA Inc. (St. Louis manufacturer of architectural products) has promoted Douglas Twitchell to business development manager, corporate identity. Twitchell was also named graphic display salesperson of 2005 by the company.
MBH Architects (Alameda, Calif.) has hired Thomas Houlihan, project manager, retail studio; Carolyn Lai, job captain, specialty retail design studio; Loren Routh, project coordinator, retail studio; Ian Bowen, drafter, retail studio; and Eric Chang and Kristin Hook, junior drafters, specialty retail design studio. At the firm's Newport Beach, Calif., office, Lisa Zigenis has been hired as a drafter, developer retail studio.
Mergers/Acquisitions:
Fitch (Columbus, Ohio, design firm) has merged with the WalkerGroup (New York design firm). Both companies are owned by London-based WPP Group plc.
Store Openings/Contracts:
Pathmark Stores Inc. (Carteret, N.J., supermarket chain) has hired the retail division of Colemanbrandworx (New York strategic branding, design and consultancy agency) to develop a prototype design for new stores and retrofits of existing ones.
Business Briefs:
ScreenPlay Inc. (Seattle provider of audiovisual environments) has entered a partnership with Digital Kitchen (Seattle production and motion design firm) to deliver customized, branded content for commercial environments.
Color Kinetics Inc. (Boston) announced that it has been awarded approximately $1.7 million by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop an LED-based alternative to incandescent lamps for general illumination. Color Kinetics' proposal involves developing replacement lamps for 60 watt incandescent light sources that, with a four-fold increase in efficacy to 80-lumens per watt, would meet or exceed the efficacy of nearly all conventional light sources.
INDX Designs (Pompano Beach, Fla., producer of wood and metal seating) has been certified as meeting the indoor air-quality standards of the Greenguard Environmental Institute.
Nana Wall Systems (Mill Valley, Calif.) announced that its NanaWall opening glass wall system has won Energy Star approval for energy efficiency from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Awards:
Wilsonart Laminate (Temple, Texas) announced that Charles Brill, a recent furniture design graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design, won its 2006 Laminate Chip Chair Design Contest. Brill's winning design, called the “Nest Chair,” consists of Wilsonart laminate strips layered and woven into a cradle-like seat. The chair was on display at the recent International Contemporary Furniture Fair and will appear in Wilsonart ads in design magazines.
The National Retail Federation (Washington, D.C.) has awarded the 2006 Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Award to Chris Frazier, a special agent with the FBI in Portland, Ore., for assisting Safeway Inc. in shutting down an organized retail crime ring.