EDENS Announces Annual Retail Challenge Finals Competition To Take Place Monday, March 2 In NYC

NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- EDENS, one of the nation's leading retail real estate owners and developers, has selected three finalists for their annual Retail Challenge, a nationwide student competition for the most compelling new retail concept. This year's competition will take place on March 2, 2015, in New York City. The winner will be announced following the finals competition presentations, which will take place at the theater at the Tribeca Grand Hotel.

This year's finalists are Dagny Scott (Columbia University), a fashion-forward, groundbreaking women's golf apparel brand; Jules and Jim (Wharton School), a cocktail and bottle shoppe seeking to change the way people experience cocktails at home; and T&Co (Babson College), a forward-thinking tea service company with a modern take on the traditional high tea.

"This year's finalists are inspiring in their innovative approaches to retail. All three concepts are scalable and focus on both the artisanal quality of their products and creating a unique retail experience for consumers," says Jodie McLean, president and chief investment officer of EDENS.

The EDENS Retail Challenge is a nationwide competition seeking the best young entrepreneurs and the next great retail concept. The contest kicked off last October at universities and colleges across the country, with 15 regional finalists selected. The three chosen finalists will appear before an esteemed panel of judges consisting of industry experts including Simon Dallimore, Alex Faherty, Tara Foley and David Hall (see below for additional information). The three finalists will receive monetary awards and intense mentoring on their business plans. The overall winner of the 2015 EDENS Retail Challenge will win an additional monetary award and the chance to bring their retail concept to life. 

Past winners of the EDENS Retail Challenge include Follain, a collection of the most wholesome, healthy beauty brands in the world with locations in Boston and Nantucket; and Artis, a coffee roasting retailer with locations in Berkeley, California and a burgeoning wholesale business.

For more information about the EDENS Retail Challenge, please visit www.edensretailchallenge.com. For more information about EDENS, visit www.edens.com.  

About EDENS:
EDENS develops, owns and operates community shopping centers in primary markets across the country. Focusing on innovative development and redevelopment together with key acquisitions in urban areas, the company has built an institutional-quality portfolio of 136 retail centers. EDENS has regional headquarters in Boston, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston and Columbia, SC. For additional information about the company and its retail real estate portfolio, please visit www.edens.com.  

Simon Dallimore:
Simon Dallimore is the founder of Dallimore & Co., a boutique advisory and professional services firm at the forefront of retail. Dallimore & Co. partners with retail and consumer brands to deliver tailored business solutions to address the ever-changing challenges of retailing in an evolving and multi-channel world.

Simon has over 30 years of executive experience, domestically and internationally. He started his career as one of the first employees at The Body Shop in the U.K., where he led and expanded the company's global distribution and the U.K. retail network prior to moving to the U.S. to establish the company's retail operations. He opened the retail network for The Swatch Group in the U.S., and from there, became the President of Lucky Brand Jeans. Following Liz Claiborne's acquisition of Lucky, he proceeded to launch other Liz brands such as Juicy Couture to retail. While at Liz Claiborne, he led the retail value chain project, studying the cross-brand internal operations of the retail group. He was able to create millions of dollars of synergies in the businesses through cut costs and greater operating efficiency.

Simon launched Dallimore & Co. ten years ago to work with several companies that were requesting his expertise and advice. Since then, his team has increased significantly and has advised over 40 brand partners, many of which have been continuous or repeat partners over the years.

Through their Shopkeeping Partners investment vehicle, the company has invested in consumer and retail-facing businesses, where their experience and network add tangible value, including Mulholland, a leather goods and accessory company based in California; Victor Alfaro, a New York-based fashion designer; 7th Flag Coffee in Austin, TX; and Joor, the leading online global fashion marketplace for wholesale buying online.

Alex Faherty:
Alex Faherty is founder and co-CEO at Faherty Brand. Alex worked as an investment banker before becoming a vice president at a private equity firm, and his twin brother, Mike Faherty, spent seven years as a designer at Ralph Lauren. With Faherty Brand, Mike and Alex were able to envision a line of swimwear that discerning urban fashionistos would want to don at their beach houses or on trips to far-flung coastal locales, while simultaneously showcasing the comfort and utility that they, as surfers, demanded from their trunks.

Mike and Alex remain avid surfers, and their designs take inspiration from places visited during surf trips around the world. One can find the influence of Indonesian batiks, Kakishibu-dyed Japanese textiles, and hand-blocked Rajasthani Indian prints.

Faherty Brand's commitment to style is matched by an emphasis on sustainability. In lieu of the cheaper petroleum-based synthetics favored by most designers, the Faherty team designed a synthetic fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, which are melted down and re-spun as yarn. There are around seven recycled bottles in each woman's suit and around 15 in each pair of men's trunks. 

Prior to founding Faherty Brand, Alex was vice president at Cerberus Capital Management and at Greenhill & Co. Alex received a B.A. in political science from Yale.

Tara Foley:
Tara Foley is the founder of Follain, a healthy beauty retail store with locations in Boston, Nantucket, Wellesley, MA, and online. Gaelic for 'healthy, wholesome, and sound,' Follain carries over 35 U.S.-made brands. All Follain products are safe and effective. Some products are available for refill, to limit the immense plastic waste generated by soap bottles today. Follain is committed to health, safety, and transparency in the beauty industry.

Tara is a 2013 M.B.A. graduate of Babson, where she was named woman entrepreneur of the year, and won the EDENS Retail Challenge. Before Babson, Tara researched skin care manufacturing with a private label producer in Maine and an organic lavender farm in France. Tara also holds a B.A. in public policy from Trinity College. She has additional experience in B2B and B2C marketing, and she has authored a blog on healthy skin care called The Naturalchemyst since 2009.

David Hall:
David Hall is a director at Revolution Ventures and is responsible for investment sourcing, execution and oversight for Revolution Ventures portfolio companies. David began his career with Revolution in 2006, serving as an investment professional for Revolution LLC and has been working with the portfolio companies ever since. David has worked closely with and served as a board observer for Revolution Money (American Express), Booker (formerly GramercyOne), Vinfolio, Koofers, SnagFilms, BenchPrep and Homesnap.

Prior to Revolution, David was with The Washington Post Company as director of planning and development. In this capacity, he managed corporate M&A and investments and launched new print and digital publications. Earlier in his career, David held positions as manager of business development for Akamai Technologies Inc and senior financial analyst for Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc.

David received a B.A. in economics from Morehouse College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

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