Events

Queens, N.Y. -- Onex Real Estate Partners announced the grand opening of local bakery chain, Fay Da Bakery, at Sky View Center, Queens’ newest regional multi-level mall, located in downtown Flushing, N.Y. 

The specialty bakery chain leased 1,650 sq. ft. of retail space on Level B of the 800,000-sq.-ft. mall, which caters to a population density of over 750,000 people living within three miles. 

New York -- Apple on Friday, opened its newest Big Apple store, a 23,000-sq-.ft. outpost in the landmarked Grand Central Terminal. The company said 2,500 people were waiting in line before the opening, and the store had nearly 4,000 visitors before noon.

The space had been previously occupied by a restaurant, which closed earlier this summer. It is Apple’s fifth location in Manhattan,

Bentonville, Ark. -- A Friday report by Reuters said that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. disclosed an agreement Thursday to sell more than 70 million shares by a firm controlled by members of the founding Walton family.

Walton Enterprises LLC, controlled by S. Robson Walton, Alice L. Walton, Jim C. Walton and the John T. Walton Estate Trust, registered for sale 70,615,608 shares of company stock. That represents about 2% of Wal-Mart's outstanding shares.

Abilene, Kan. -- Duckwall-ALCO Stores reported Friday that it recorded a profit of $0.1 million in the quarter ended Oct. 30, compared with a loss of $2.1 million in the year-ago period.

Sales increased 3.6% to $109.8 million, and same-store sales excluding fuel centers increased 2.7%. 

MINNEAPOLIS — While its impossible to compare Walmart's monthly performance with Target's, as Walmart no longer provides monthly sales, it can be assumed that Target's less-than-impressive comps increase was affected by stiff Black Friday competition.

New York City -- By all reports, the ICSC New York deal-making conference, held Dec. 5 and 6 in New York City, delivered what the retail and shopping center industries were waiting for: A sense of forward progress.

Chain Store Age heard mostly positive comments from the show, such as “I haven’t seen this much deal action since 2006,” from one happy retail broker in the aisles of the New York Hilton meeting space. Mall developers unveiled redevelopment plans, and social media innovations and rollouts were the theme of the conference.

Well, another Black Friday has come and gone. And, much to the surprise of many (myself included), it did so with a bang. General consensus is that the Black Friday sales bonanza was a rousing success, and the numbers certainly support that: ShopperTrak reported that Black Friday sales increased 6.6% over the 2010 numbers, with a record-breaking $11.4 billion in purchases. More people were out and about — foot traffic reports show an increase of about 5% over last year, which is good news for the brick and mortar guys.

Chicago -- A report release Wednesday by ShopperTrak said that sales increased just 0.2% year-over-year for the week ending in Dec. 3, representing a 22.5% decline from the prior week, which held the largest Black Friday in history — both in terms of sales and traffic. 

According to ShopperTrak, this sharp decline in retail sales is typical of the week following Thanksgiving. Although shoppers have an initial burst of activity spurred on by Black Friday sales promotions, they often stay home during the following week. 

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp. reported Thursday that profit for the quarter ended Nov. 20 rose 2.6% to $320 million, from $312 million a year earlier. The wholesale club operator attributed the lackluster performance, which missed Wall Street expectations, to higher costs, which offset increased revenue.

Costco's revenue rose to $21.18 billion, missing analysts’ predicted $21.29 billion in revenue.

Same-store sales rose 10%; excluding gas prices and strengthening foreign currencies, the figure rose 7%.

Beaumont, Texas -- Conn’s Inc. reported Thursday that losses in the third quarter widened to $12.7 million from $4.8 million a year ago.

Sales rose 5% to $179.5 million.

The electronics retailer also announced that it made Theodore M. Wright its permanent president and CEO. He had been the company’s interim president and CEO since February 2011.