Consumer Affairs & Relations

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Sam's Club announced that it is teaming up with The Salvation Army and Off the Field professional football players' wives association for the fifth annual Dream Drive for the Salvation Army. Twenty pre-selected families from the Salvation Army Adopt-A-Family program in 10 different cities will receive $1,000 worth of gifts, including food, clothes, personal items and toys from Sam's Club. As part of the Dream Drive campaign, Off the Field representatives will be shopping at their local Sam's Clubs on Dec. 8 to purchase items for these families.

As retailers assess what worked and what didn’t in terms of Black Friday promotions and Thanksgiving weekend sales, overall there are a few things that stand out.

Delinquency rates in Target’s credit card portfolio are still really good, but after several years of steady improvement, a slight deterioration has become evident the past few months.

In November, 3.3% of accounts were three or more payments past due, the same rate as the prior month but slightly higher than the low of 3% seen during September, August and July. Likewise, accounts with four or more payments past due stood at 2.2% in November, the same as in October, but higher than the 2.1% seen the prior four months.

Listening to the debate over the years about whether India should allow foreign direct investment in its retail industry sounded an awful lot like the opposition Walmart has dealt with for decades in the United States.

As retailers assess what worked and what didn’t in terms of Black Friday promotions and Thanksgiving weekend sales, overall there are a few things that stand out.

New York City -- Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. is looking to raise as much as $792.3 million in an initial public offering that could value the company at $3.63 billion.

The luxury brand, which has 169 stores in North America and 34 in Europe and Japan, said in a regulatory filing that it is offering 41.7 million shares on behalf of existing shareholders for $17 to $19 each.

By Bill Dundas, International Sign Association

CHICAGO — Eva Kohn of Valassis Inc. and Subriana Pierce of Supervalu were named co-chairs of the Network of Executive Women CPG Retail Diversity Forum 2012 scheduled for March 6 to 8 in Dallas. The NEW Diversity Forum, formerly the Multicultural Workforce Conference, is the consumer products and retail industry’s leading diversity and inclusion event.