Strategy

New York -- The National Retail Federation's 102nd Annual Convention & Expo, also referred to as Retail's BIG Show, opened on Sunday, with more than 27,000 attendees from more than 70 countries around the globe. The event, taking place at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, runs through Jan. 15.

PHILADELPHIA — Urban Outfitters Inc. said its same-stores sales for the holiday season rose 9%, including its direct-to-consumer business. Excluding that unit, same-store sales fell 1%.

Total company net sales for November and December increased 15% to $666 million.

Among Urban Outfitters’ brands, comparable sales increased 33% at Free People, 10% at Urban Outfitters and 5% at Anthropologie. Direct-to-consumer net sales increased by 38% for the period and wholesale segment net sales increased 21%.

Minneapolis -- Target announced plans to open a store in Huntington, N.Y. in October.

To date, Target has announced plans to open 17 Target stores in 2013.

Strength in the computing, mobile phone and appliance categories enabled Best Buy to report flat same store sales during the holidays and temporarily silence the voice of those who had prematurely written the company’s obituary.

Washington -- Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 2.3% in January over the same month last year as retailers continue to urge labor and management to avoid a strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast docks, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. A strike would close 14 ports from Maine to Texas where nearly 15,000 dockworkers handle 40% of the nation’s ocean cargo.


ATLANTA — First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, has announced that CEO Jon Judge plans to retire from the company for health reasons.

First Data offers e-commerce solutions to merchants, financial institutions and their customers. First Data leverages its product portfolio and expertise to drive customer revenue and profitability, and facilitates payment by debit or credit card, gift card, check or mobile phone, online or at the checkout counter.

The head of Walmart’s Chilean operation will assume responsibility for all of Latin America following the retirement of current president and CEO Eduardo Solorzano.

New York -- The 2012 holiday shopping season didn’t provide the sales and traffic lift anticipated by retailers, according to Experian FootFall. The company said the season got off to a blazing start as consumers responded to some of the earliest Black Friday sales and promotions, effectively extending the Black Friday shopping experience to a four-day event. Following this annual start to the season that accounted for billions of dollars in retail sales, the 2012 calendar shift began to impact consumer behavior.