EDENS, One Of The Nation's Largest Retail Real Estate Owners And Developers, Announced Their Fourth Annual Retail Challenge.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- EDENS, one of the nation's largest retail real estate owners and developers, today announced the 4th annual EDENS Retail Challenge which, this year for the first time, will culminate with a finals presentation at Washington DC's famed Union Market.

College Students from some of the nation's top universities including Georgetown, UVA and the University of Pennsylvania are participating and selected concepts will go onto compete regionally in January.  An esteemed panel of judges, made up of industry experts, will choose the top three retail concepts from around the country to compete at the Finals At Union Market on March 3rd and 4th.

Past winners of the EDENS Retail Challenge include Tara Foley of Follain and Alex Lowe, Elvis Lieban and James Gutierrez of Artis.  Since receiving top honors, both of the winners concepts have gone on to open successful retail locations around the country.   

Says EDENS Retail Challenger Winner Alex Lowe, "It was the spark that brought our business to life.  The preparation and feedback from the participation brought our business from a rough idea into a strong, viable business.  We met our key advisors through the competition, all of whom are still involved in the business today.  Also the credibility of winning the competition was a key part of our ability to raise over $3M dollars."

"At the EDENS retail challenge I developed meaningful relationships with incredibly impressive and innovative retail experts. Three years later, these experts are still some of my greatest mentors and friends. The people were the best part of the retail challenge," Says Tara Foley, Founder of Retail Challenge Winner Follain.

For more information please visit www.edensretailchallenge.com.

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 more than 120 retail centers. EDENS has regional headquarters in Boston, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Houston and Columbia, SC. For additional information about the company and its retail real estate portfolio, please visit www.edens.com.

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