Events

New York City -- Holiday-related sales rose 0.7% from October 28 through December 24, compared with a 2% rise last year, according to a preliminary report from MasterCard Advisors Spending Pulse.

"It has been a very uneven industry performance, probably at least for the last year, and that certainly continued into the holiday season," said Michael Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers, in a Reuters report.

PLANO, Texas — Dr Pepper has launched its latest advertising campaign featuring real people and their “one-of-a-kind” stories.

Atlanta -- CBL & Associates Properties and Horizon Group Properties announced that their jointly owned Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta will open one month earlier than previously announced – or on July 18, 2013.

Located in the North Atlanta suburb of Woodstock, Ga., the 370,000-sq.-ft. initial phase of the center will feature such designer outlet names as Nike, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH, Bose, Brooks Brothers, Columbia Sportswear, Cole Haan, White House|Black Market, Guess, Fossil, Michael Kors, Under Armour, and Talbots.  

Beyonce and Pepsi are reaching out to football fans to participate in a unique crowdsourcing initiative for this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.

Super Bowl XLVII is scheduled for February 3 in New Orleans and Beyonce is the featured entertainer for the Pepsi sponsored half time show. What’s different about this year’s event is the beverage brand and entertainer have issued an open call for fans to submit a poses that will be used in an opening video that welcomes Beyonce to the stage.

Washington, D.C. -- A report issued Thursday by the Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index fell sharply in December to 65.1 from 75.1 in November, impacted by fears of tax increases and impending government spending cuts.

The fall in confidence is the second straight decline and the lowest level since August.

The survey showed that consumers are slightly more optimistic about current business conditions and hiring. But their outlook for the next six months deteriorated to its lowest level since 2011.

Chicago -- A report issued Thursday by ShopperTrak found that last-minute shopping activity drove large increases in both retail sales and foot traffic last week.
ShopperTrak reported that for the week ending Dec. 22, sales increased 39.1% and traffic increased 32% compared to the previous week.

Compared to the same week last year, however, retail sales declined 2.5% and foot traffic declined 3.3%.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation on Wednesday was quick to shine a more positive light on holiday sales 2012, suggesting that reports of the worst holiday results since 2008 are not correct.

Matthew Shay, president of the NRF, said he's still predicting a 4.1% increase. "We're still pretty optimistic it's going to be a solid year," Shay said Wednesday on CNBC’s "Squawk on the Street." "We're still going to have year-over-year growth" of 4.1%. But that is down from 5.6% growth last year.

Leading U.K. retailer J. Sainsbury named Jean Tomlin to its board as a non-executive director, effective January 1, 2013.

Tomlin’s appointment follows the previously announced retirement of Anna Ford from her role as non-executive director, effective December 31. In addition to her overall board contribution, Tomlin will chair the company’s corporate responsibility committee and sit on the remuneration and nomination committees.