Consumer Affairs & Relations

U.S. online holiday spending will reach $112 billion in 2016, growing 13% over 2015.    That is according to Forrester’s Holiday Retail Sales Forecast, which said that while online sales are 12% of annual retail sales, they jump to 16% of total holiday sales during the November and December months.  

The age of the Goliath brand is over. Now, the Davids are running the show.   The commerce landscape has consistently been dominated by giant corporations, whose brands became extremely broad, and in some ways generic. Think about Gillette. What does Gillette mean to you?    Unless you get really excited about the prospect of a 37-blade razor, Gillette as a brand probably doesn’t mean much to you. It’s just the standard razor you buy at the store.  

Best Buy Co.’s sales and profits in the third quarter topped forecasts, but the retailer warned that the recall of a Samsung smartphone is likely to impact its holiday sales.   Best Buy’s profit jumped 55% to $194 million, up from $125 million in the same period a year ago. Adjusted for one-time expenses, it earned 62 cents a share, which was higher than the 47 cents analysts were expecting.  

Staples Inc. on Thursday reported earnings for its third quarter in line with its expectations but revenue fell short of forecasts as same-store sales fell.   Earnings came in at $179 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with $198 million, or 31 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings came in at 34 cents a share.   Total company sales fell 4% to $5.4 billion in the quarter ended Oct. 29, missing estimates.  

Walmart on Thursday posted third-quarter earnings that managed to beat analysts' expectations even as net sales fell short.     The retailer also lifted the lower end of its full-year guidance and expressed confidence going into the holiday season.    Walmart’s net income fell to $3.03 billion, or 98 cents per share, in the quarter ended Oct. 31, which was two cents more than the Wall Street consensus according to Bloomberg.  

Gap Inc. has appointed Teri List-Stoll as executive VP and CFO, effective January 17, 2017.   List-Stoll will succeed Sabrina Simmons, whose departure was previously announced. Simmons will shift into an advisory role through the end of the company’s fiscal year.     Most recently, List-Stoll held the position of executive VP and CFO for Dick’s Sporting Goods. She left Dick’s in August 2016.     

Butler Enterprises has named a Gainesville insider to promote and market its Neighborhoods at Butler project in that Florida college town.   The complex’s new director of marketing, Mary Reichardt, arrives at Butler from the Visit Gainseville-Alachua County Tourism Development Office, where she served as marketing chief. There, she created the county’s first brand strategy to establish awareness across the U.S. and in Europe.   

With some 2,975 team members in its 123 company-owned restaurants and support center, Fazoli’s, the nation’s largest fast-casual Italian restaurant chain, is addressing the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule head on. CSA spoke with Carl Howard, president and CEO of Fazoli’s, about the company’s strategy regarding the new regulations, scheduled to take effect December 1.   How do you think the new overtime rule will impact your workplace?