Events

New York City -- Barnes & Noble reported a preliminary same-store sales increase of 9.7% for the nine-week period ended on Jan. 1, led by the popularity of its Nook e-readers (the figure includes Nook devices sold in stores but not on its website). Last week, Barnes & Noble said the Nook had become its best-selling single item ever.

Barnes & Noble, which put itself up for sale in August, introduced the Nook in 2009 in a bid to compete with Amazon.com's market-leading Kindle and win a share of the growing digital books market.

LAS VEGAS - Sears announced that it has launched a new social media initiative called the Sears Blue Blogger Crew, which is dedicated to providing knowledgeable, industry bloggers the opportunity to engage in consumer electronics announcements, events and activities throughout the year. 

Executives from The Container Store and Urban Outfitters are among the retailers who will be honored at the National Retail Federation’s Annual Convention and EXPO, or BIG Show, which will be held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, Jan. 9-12, 2011.

The recipients will accept their awards during the show’s Annual Retail Industry Luncheon on Tuesday, Jan. 11.

Due to the blizzard in New York City and resulting travel delays, the deadline for entries in Chain Store Age’s 29th annual Retail Store of the Year design competition has been extended until Tuesday, January 4, 2011.

For more information/entry form, go to chainstoreage.com/retail-store-year-0 or e-mail [email protected].

New York City -- A survey released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs found that chain-store sales for the week ended Dec. 25 rose 4.8% from the year-earlier period, the best performance since April 24.

According to the survey, on a week-over-week basis, sales gained 1%.

New York City -- A report released Monday by Advisor One said that while it’s still too early to know the final outcome of the Christmas shopping season, it’s already clear that it’s been a record season for online retail.

The Seasonal area of the National Hardware Show is in for a boost, according to the show organizers, who point to a growing emphasis on holiday décor and lawn-and-garden-related merchandise around the industry.

The Seasonal area will be expanded to include hundreds of the industry's most innovative products during the May 10 to 12 event in Las Vegas, according to organizers.