For the Week of September 8th

555 International (Chicago design and manufacturing firm) has hired John Kernan as senior vp and partner. Kernan previously held positions at R.H. Macy and Co., Liz Claiborne and Ontario Store Fixtures.

The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA, New York trade association) has appointed Ronnie Farrar of Duke Power (Charlotte, N.C.) as president for the 2003-2004 year.

Millennium Visual Systems (Park Ridge, N.J., LED and digital fiberoptic products supplier) has hired Leeor Wiselberg as national sales manager. He was previously marketing manager for Multi Vision Technologies.

Sofa Express (Columbus, Ohio, furniture retail chain) has signed a lease to open a 30,000-square-foot anchor store at the new HomeWorks in Jeffersonville, Ohio. The HomeWorks project is being developed by The Boyle Group (Malvern, Pa.) as a retail center dedicated to products for the home.

DuPont Textiles & Interiors (Wilmington, Del., integrated fiber and intermediates company) has changed its name to Invista, representing the company's next step forward in separating itself from its parent company, DuPont, and creating its own identity. Invista's brands include Lycra®, Coolmax®, Stainmaster® and Antron®.

StereoGraphics (San Rafael, Calif., supplier of 3-D visualization products) has entered into a strategic partnership with Kortek, a Korean company specializing in industrial monitors, to create the next generation of Glasses-Free 3D monitors for casinos, retail, p-o-p, advertising displays and other high-use environments.

The Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology (New York museum dedicated to fashion) will pay tribute to American designers with the exhibit, “Seventh Avenue: Fashion Walk of Fame.” The exhibit opens September 20 and runs through Jan. 3, 2004.

Kemper Development Co. (Bellevue, Wash., privately held development and management company) has become the majority owner of the Lincoln Square mixed-use development in Bellevue. Lincoln Square will include residential and office space, along with 380,000 square feet of retail space.