Developers Diversified Realty Corp. (DDR), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently announced the introduction of two new retail stores of hhgregg, Inc. (HGG), a publicly owned white goods retailer, in Florida and Pennsylvania.

hhgregg opened a 36,459 square-foot store at Carillon Place, a 283,238 square feet shopping center in Naples, Florida. The company also opened a 28,152 square-foot retail store at Peach Street Square, a 676,245 square feet shopping center in Erie, Pennsylvania. Earlier in 2010, Developers Diversified had opened three new stores of hhgregg in Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware, and is presently the largest retail landlord of the latter.

Developers Diversified acquires, owns, develops, redevelops, leases and manages shopping centers and business centers. The company owns and manages 590 retail operating (including joint ventures) and development properties spanning approximately 134 million square feet of real estate in 41 states in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Brazil and Canada.

We maintain our Neutral rating on Developers Diversified for the long term. The company presently has a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term “Hold” recommendation.