News Briefs

RICHY'S CANDY, CONES & CHAOS: a new retail chain, has struck an exclusive agreement with Coke to carry its full line of beverages. It will also hold Make-your-own-Coke-Creation promotions at its stores. The new chain features nostalgic and retro candies. Store opening in May include Summit, NJ, Princeton, NJ, and Rockefeller Center, NY.

DARDEN: closed six struggling Bahama Breeze restaurants in Arizona, Texas, Colorado and New York last week, affecting about 500 workers. The Orlando-based company debuted a less expensive Bahama Breeze restaurant prototype in April in Pittsburgh that is exceeding expectations and could become a model for expansion, according to Joe Lee, Darden's chairman and chief executive. Darden is also lowering the asset value of four other Bahama Breeze locations, plus one Red Lobster and one Olive Garden. The company estimated that it would record about $23.1 million in charges during the fourth quarter as a result of these changes.

AEROPOSTALE: has established a marketing partnership with Mischa Barton, star of Fox television show The OC. Barton will appear in back-to-school and holiday marketing campaigns for the mall-based specialty retailer of casual and active apparel for young women and men. The agreement will include in-store marketing, in-store and online promotions as well as several public appearances.

DISCOVERY CHANNEL: kicks off a new marketing campaign, Know More Than You Should, which focuses on the lighter side of the Discovery Channel's real world programming with a tongue-in-cheek approach. The on- and off-network campaign breaks May 29 and the spots are designed to help viewers find key new programs. Discovery Channel will also launch its own micro site where viewers can watch all the spots, as well as behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the commercials.

TOYOTA MOTOR SALES, U.S.A: has partnered with Viewpoint Corp. to launch a search toolbar sporting Scion branding and innovative made-to-order features during the national rollout of the new tC sports coupe. As part of the agreement, Scion will promote the XBar to its drivers and visitors to the tC mini-site (www.wanttc.com) in time for the national dealer rollout and the launch of the new tC. Viewpoint has assisted in the launch and promotion of numerous vehicles for Toyota since 2002.

PROMOWORKS: will hold a sampling day at Wrigley Field during a Cubs day game on June 10. Sampling and prize sponsors to date include Dentyne, Fisher Nuts, Hershey's, Kellogg's, Rolaids and White Hen. The event will include mobile and stationary product sampling throughout the stadium's concourse, as well as scratch-and-win Cubs limited-edition collector cards to the first 10,000 fans entering the gates on game day.