Business Briefs

HAMILTON -- A 185,000-square-foot shopping center here has been sold.

The Hamilton Square Plaza on Route 33 at White Horse-Hamilton Square Road has been acquired by Levin Management along with five other shopping centers around the state from Federal Realty Investment Trust.

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The Hamilton shopping center, built in the 1960s, is about 75 percent occupied, according to Levin President and Chief Executive Matthew Harding. The center's tenants include Shop Rite, Fezzi wig's restaurant, A.C. Moore and Blockbuster.

The property was built by an affiliate, Levin Properties, and about 20 years ago was leased to Federal Realty. Levin Management had been running the properties until reacquiring them late last year, Harding explained. They plan to refurbish the Hamilton property.

The five other shopping centers Levin acquired are Blue Star Shopping Center in Watchung, Brunswick Shopping Center in North Brunswick, Clifton Plaza and Al lwood Plaza in Clifton, and Rutgers Plaza in Franklin. Ascendia releases figures HAMILTON -- Ascendia Brands reported preliminary figures for the quarter ended Nov. 24. The household products company, which had delayed filings, reported a preliminary operating loss of $3.5 million compared to a loss of $700,000 for the same quarterly period of the prior year.

Ascendia, which plans to file its quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Feb. 15, reported preliminary net sales of $57.2 million for the period that ended Nov. 24, compared with net sales of $24.5 million for the same period of 2006, an increase of $32.7 million. Ascendia reported its ac quisition in 2007 of the Calgon and Healing Garden brands accounted for $34.4 million in net sales. Ex cluding that, net sales decreased by $1.7 million, Ascendia reported. Hospital honors HAMILTON -- A company that rates customer satisfaction at hospitals nationwide has given some recognition to an area hospital.

Press Ganey, a South Bend company that compiles patient feedback and works with hospitals to improve performance, has issued its Summit Award to the Cancer Institute of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson Medical Oncology, recognizing high achievement in patient satisfaction. RWJ was the only facility in the nation studied by Press Ganey -- which reports it works with more than 40 percent of U.S. hospitals -- to receive a Summit Award. It is the second year RWJ received the Summit honor. TerraCycle program TRENTON -- TerraCycle, the company that markets environmentally friendly plant food, has entered into a recycling program with organic energy bar company Clif Bar, of Berkeley, Calif.

The Wrapper Brigade program will donate 2 cents to charity for every used wrapper collected. Ter raCycle said the used wrappers will be fused and woven into material that will be used to make items such as backpacks and gym totes that will be sold at participating re tailers later this year.

People who sign up for the program at TerraCycle's Web site will receive collection bags that can hold up to 200 wrappers. Participants who mail their collection bags back to TerraCycle can designate what charity they want to support.

The Web site is www.terracycle.net/brigades.

-- Times staff reports