Ulta Beauty Files Permit For East Memphis Store

Ulta Beauty is preparing to build out its space in Poplar Commons, the East Memphis shopping center rising across from Oak Court Mall.

The cosmetics retailer is seeking a $450,000 permit application to work on the interior of its future location at 4572 Poplar Ave., inside the shopping center that will be anchored by Nordstrom Rack. No contractor is listed on the application.

Property owner Seritage Growth Properties is building the $25 million center on the site of the former Sears store at Poplar Avenue and Perkins Road Extended. In addition to Nordstrom Rack and Ulta, the 135,200-square-foot retail center will feature an LA Fitness gym, additional junior anchors, smaller retail stores and restaurants.

Following Sears’ closure in April 2016, Seritage razed the store and auto center on a nearby outparcel and began construction on the five new buildings that compose the new center. It pulled a permit in January for the build-out of Nordstrom Rack’s space.

The company’s latest earnings report, released in May, estimates the center will reach “substantial completion” in the third quarter.

Seritage is a publicly traded, self-managed real estate investment trust that spun off from Sears Holdings in 2015. The company has 235 wholly owned properties – of which 201 are leased to Sears Holdings – as well as 31 joint venture properties. Overall, its portfolio totals more than 42 million square feet across 49 states and Puerto Rico.

– Patrick Lantrip

Nashville Equity Firm Buys Collierville Herald Publisher

A Nashville-based private equity firm with no previous media investments has acquired a regional publisher that owns 12 websites, magazines and newspapers, including The Collierville Herald.

American Hometown Publishing announced Monday, July 17, it has been bought by West End Holdings. AHP, which has assets in Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma and Florida, said under new ownership it “will immediately begin seeking additional local media properties to add to its portfolio,” according to a release.

In addition to The Collierville Herald, those Tennessee assets include The Leader in Covington and the Wayne County News in Waynesboro, southwest of Nashville.

West End Holdings managing partner Lyle Beasley said the media company’s acquisition targets will be in more affluent, slightly larger markets than their current holdings.

“AHP has positioned itself as a sanctuary for struggling independent newspaper owners who are looking for an exit but care a great deal about how their community, and even their own legacy, will be served under new ownership,” Beasley said in the release. “From our perspective, this is an industry in need of a positive, hopeful storyline, and we see AHP having almost unlimited growth opportunity.”

American Hometown Publishing once had an office in Middle Tennessee, but is now headquartered in Wisconsin. The company, founded in 2005, is led by CEO Brad Dennison, a former executive at GateHouse Media who joined AHP in 2015.

Beasley said expansion discussions are already ongoing, with plans to grow into new states immediately.

“My vision was to blend the know-how of the large, publicly traded newspaper conglomerates with a more patient, private setting where decisions can be made for the long haul, not just the current quarter,” Dennison said in the release.

– Daily News staff

Workplace Law Firm Signs Downtown Memphis Lease

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP, an Atlanta-based workplace law firm, has signed a 3,000-square-foot lease in the Peabody Place Office Tower in Downtown Memphis.

Darrell Cobbins, president and CEO of Universal Commercial Real Estate LLC, represented the tenant in the lease while Gray Fiser, senior associate broker with CBRE, represented the landlord, Belz Enterprises.

Founded in 1946, Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete has a network of more than 180 lawyers at 32 offices in 15 states, including the Downtown Memphis office.

– Patrick Lantrip

Ring Begins Role As Hutchison’s Head of School

Kristen D. Ring is the new head of school for Hutchison School, the board of the independent college preparatory school for girls announced this week.

Ring comes to Hutchison from being provost at Bayside Academy in Daphne, Alabama, an independent pre-K through 12th-grade private school of 730 students. Her resume also includes being director of the Multisensory Academy of Practitioners at Forsyth Country Day School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a facility for students with language-based learning differences. Before that she was an English teacher for 15 years.

“I want every girl to have an experience that allows her to see the joy in learning, whether she’s learning in a classroom or on an athletic field or learning about friendship and personal relationships,” Ring said in a written statement.

She succeeds Annette Smith, who was Hutchison’s head of school for 17 years and retired after a 50-year career in education.

Ring is the seventh head of school at Hutchison, which was founded in 1902.

– Bill Dries

Bioworks, ZeroTo510 Team With Smith & Nephew

The Memphis Bioworks Foundation and its ZeroTo510 medical device accelerator, have teamed up with Smith & Nephew to create a new executive-in-residence program for the medical device startup accelerator.

The program allows ZeroTo510 cohorts to receive ongoing expertise and guidance in the medical device market for sales, product development and other elements of launching a successful business from executives at Smith & Nephew, a global medical technology business.

ZeroTo510 is now in its fifth year of guiding medical device entrepreneurs through the startup process and helping them refine their business models and go-to-market strategies, with the goal of clearance for commercial deployment through the FDA’s 510(k) process and a path to product sales.

The executive-in-residence program will be provided on-site to mentor current ZeroTo510 teams, as well as teams that have gone through the ZeroTo510 program in the past. Smith & Nephew engineers will extend their knowledge of medical devices to students by providing guidance on product development and today’s market, as well as mentoring support.

– Andy Meek

Tigers Football Picked To Win AAC West

The American Athletic Conference has released its football media poll, and for the second time in three years, the University of Memphis is the preseason favorite to win the league’s West Division. The preseason vote was released at the league’s annual media days.

The Tigers received 22 of the first-place votes (169 points) to take the conference’s West Division crown. Houston, the 2016 preseason favorite for the overall league title, got six first-place votes (137 points) to win the West Division and was closely followed by Navy in third with one vote and 128 points. Tulsa also received one vote (102 points) to win the division.

USF was the unanimous choice to win the East Division, garnering all 30 first-place votes. The Bulls also are the preseason pick to win The American title, with 26 of the 30 media votes. Memphis received one vote to take the league’s championship.

Last season, the media selected the Tigers to place third in the West Division. Memphis did finish third with a 5-3 conference record in 2016.

– Don Wade

Grizzlies’ Selden Chosen To All-NBA Summer Team

Memphis Grizzlies guard/forward Wayne Selden Jr. was named to the MGM Resorts All-NBA Summer League Second Team.

Selden averaged 22.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.70 steals in 30.5 minutes, guiding the Grizzlies to a 5-1 record and a trip to the semifinals.

The All-NBA Summer League First Team is comprised of Most Valuable Player Lonzo Ball (Los Angeles Lakers), John Collins (Atlanta Hawks), Josh Jackson (Phoenix Suns), Dennis Smith Jr. (Dallas Mavericks) and Caleb Swanigan (Portland).

Joining Selden on the Second Team are Cheick Diallo (New Orleans Pelicans), Bryn Forbes (San Antonio Spurs), Kyle Kuzma (Los Angeles Lakers) and Jayson Tatum (Boston).

– Don Wade