Events

New York — Most Americans won’t shop on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday this year. According to a new Bankrate.com survey of 1,000 consumers, only 28% of Americans plan to shop in a store on Black Friday.   

New York - The chief executive of hardware giant True Value is going undercover—on television that is. True Value Company president and CEO John Hartmann will appear in the season premiere of "Undercover Boss," which airs on Dec. 14 on CBS. 

Redmond, Wash. — Microsoft and Retail Realm are partnering to launch the Microsoft Dynamics Retail Essentials with Retail Realm product, which represents Microsoft's first major push into the SMB marketplace with a new solution. On new install, this retail-specific solution installs with the Retail Realm add-on embedded.    

True Value’s boss went undercover, and the cameras were rolling. True Value Company president and CEO John Hartmann will appear in the season six premiere of "Undercover Boss" airing on Dec. 14 on CBS. 

San Jose, Calif. – Black Friday (Nov. 28) is expected to be the busiest shopping day of 2014. According to data from in-store analytics provider RetailNext, it will be followed in order by four days in December: Dec. 20, 21, 13 and 19.
For the broader holiday period spanning November and December 2014, RetailNext predicts store traffic will be down 4% from the 2013 holiday period, while sales will be flat to 1% lower, conversions will be up 0.5% and average transaction value will rise 3.5%.

Boca Raton, Fla. – Polaroid is opening three locations of its Fotobar experiential retail concept in the Los Angeles area, with the first debuting Nov. 18 at Westfield Culver City. The 300-sq.-ft.micro-stores offer a cube shape and Polaroid Color Spectrum logo, and customers can take a seat at the Fotobar and transform their pictures instantly from their smartphone, Facebook or Instagram  into three different size Polaroid pictures which can be collected in unique Polaroid shadowboxes or other picture accessories.  

Just in time for the peak holiday shopping season, Sears is introducing "Reserve It" – a free service that lets Shop Your Way members pick out apparel and footwear in stock at their local Sears, put the items on hold, and then try them on once they arrive at the store.

Bentonville, Ark. –- Sam’s Club will launch its Black Friday sale online on Thursday, Nov. 27 just after midnight EST with free standard shipping on Black Friday items. Members can continue shopping in clubs starting at 7 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 28.