Events

Sales soar at Burlington Stores
Burlington Stores Inc. CEO Tom Kingsbury reported an unexpected sales spike in the third quarter, prompting the company to enthusiastically boost its outlook for the year.
NRF: Imports will slow in December as holiday rush ends
Washington, D.C. - Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to continue to slow down in December. According to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, import volume at U.S. ports covered by the Global Port Tracker report is expected to total 1.37 million containers this month as the holiday shipping cycle winds down.

Ulta Beauty has ultimate Q3; on track to open 100 stores in '14

Boilignbrook, Ill. — Ulta Beauty reported fiscal results for the third quarter of fiscal 2014 that looked pretty darned good. Net income rose 30% to $59.1 million compared to $45.4 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2013, with lower expenses helping drive up profit.

The company said it will have opened 100 new stores in all of fiscal 2014 and remodeled another 12.
Avison Young completes $15 million sale of Brannon Crossing

Atlanta - Avison Young has completed the $15 million sale of Brannon Crossing, an upscale shopping center with 60,780 sq. ft. of leasable space located at 405-435 Peachtree Parkway in Cumming, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta. The transaction comes on the heels of the firm’s recent disposition of the 27,057-sq.-ft. Lindbergh Crossing Shopping Center in Atlanta for $7.06 million.
Chicago City Council approves $13 minimum wage

New York - The City Council of Chiago has approved a boost in the minimum wage, gradually raising it to $13 an hour by 2019. The vote was pushed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel faces a reelection vote in February.

The plan raises Illinois' $8.25 rate – which is $1 higher than the federal rate – in small increments. It will get raised to $10 next year, and then increase by amounts of of 50 cents and $1. City officials estimate more than 400,000 Chicago workers will benefit.
Something’s cooking at Barnes & Noble

The nation’s largest retail bookseller has dreamed up another innovative way to drive traffic to its stores.

Barnes & Noble has announced that it will be sponsoring the Barnes & Noble Cookie Bake-Off, a contest in which customers can submit cookie recipes for a chance to win prizes and have their winning cookies sold in Barnes & Noble stores.
Cost Plus invites customers for tea

Looking to capitalize on the immense popularity of the PBS show Downton Abbey, Cost Plus World Market is having an online tea party and expanding its range of Downton Abbey products just in time for the holiday shopping season.
Study: Twitter top social brand on Black Friday

New York – Black Friday was a more social event than Cyber Monday, with 3.5 million tweets and 838 million impressions compared to 839,000 tweets and 309 million impressions. According to a study from StatSocial, women were more likely than men to socially comment on both events, accounting for 59% of

Black Friday comments and 63% of Cyber Monday comments.
APT Study – Early shopping hurts Thanksgiving weekend sales

Washington, D.C. – In-store sales were down from Thanksgiving Day through Black Friday, but the culprit may have been early holiday shopping more than lackluster consumer interest. According to the Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) Index of U.S. same-store sales, in-store sales dropped 5.8% during that two-day period compared to the previous year.
Is Groupon headed for a resurgence?

Despite increasing competition from Amazon Local and Google Shopping, Groupon announced Tuesday that its holiday weekend sales set a new record.

For the full Black Friday through Cyber Monday weekend, the e-commerce site’s North American sales climbed over 25 percent from last year, the company reported. This year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday were the two biggest days in Groupon's North American history, the firm said.
Small Business Saturday shopping up 15%

New York - Across the country, there was strong support for local businesses on Small Business Saturday, with shopping up 14.9% from last year, according to the results from the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, released today by American Express and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).
Commentary: From Singles Day to Cyber Monday - Branded Retail Events in a New Era of Consumerism

By Kosha Gada