Corporate Governance

West Palm Beach, Fla. -- FTI Consulting predicts a 4.9% increase in sales this holiday season in its 2013 Holiday Retail Report. Despite slowing discretionary spending growth in recent months and anxiety over political turmoil in Washington, FTI retail and consumer products industry professionals anticipate a potential silver lining to this holiday season.

Family Dollar is turning to Propelics, a provider of enterprise mobile strategy and mobile apps, to help it improve its mobile strategy.

Chicago -- Retail industry veteran Steve Embree has joined the executive leadership team of spin photography services and solutions provider Snap36 as director of business development. Embree is responsible for driving business development and go-to-market strategies for Snap36 across both B2C and B2B markets.

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe's Cos. net income rose 26% in the third quarter, just short of projections, amid the housing market's ongoing resurgence. The retailer raised its fiscal 2013 outlook, but its earnings forecast was still below expectations.

Lowe's earned $499 million for the period ended Nov. 1, up from $396 million last year. Its earnings were a penny per share short of Wall Street expectations.

Revenue rose 7% to $12.96 billion from $12.07 billion, beating analysts’ predictions. Same-store sales increased 6.2%.

Despite posting a larger-than-expected loss for its third quarter, J.C. Penney pointed to hopeful signs that its business is starting to stabilize as its heads into the holiday season.

Penney reported a loss of $489 million in the three months ended Nov.2, compared with a loss of $123 million in the year-ago period.

Sales fell 5.1% to $2.78 billion. Same-store sales were down 4.8%, but the period ended with its first monthly gain since December 2011. And online sales rose 24.5%, to $266 million.

San Francisco – Gap Inc. is rolling out its “Reserve in Store” capabilities to all U.S. Banana Republic stores and more than 200 Gap stores in 15 major U.S. markets. The launch, which follows a successful pilot in San Francisco and Chicago-area Gap and Banana Republic stores, makes it easy for customers to shop online or with their mobile device, place items on hold and pick them up in local stores.

Johor, Malaysia — Genting Simon, a joint venture between Genting Group and Simon Property Group, has announced the opening of the second phase of Johor Premium Outlets in Johor, Malaysia.

The expansion has added 40 new stores and 100,000 sq. ft. to the center, bringing the store total to 120.

New York -- Dollar Tree and Dressbarn have named Charter Realty and Development as the exclusive broker in Connecticut.

Dollar Tree, a Fortune 500 company with approximately 4,700 stores looks for 8,000- to 12,000-sq.-ft. spaces. Dollar Tree is also looking for locations in freestanding strip malls and power centers.