Events

More than 3,200 military members, veterans and their families attended the Holiday for Heroes event at Mall of America.

The mall, working with Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, invited attendees to enjoy unlimited rides at Nickelodeon Universe, free breakfast at Hard Rock Cafe, a military resource fair, visits with Santa, an ugly sweater photo booth and prizes valued at more than $200.

This is the first year Mall of America has hosted Holiday for Heroes.

Banana Republic is taking an innovative approach to last-minute holiday shoppers this year: top-notch perks and special discounts for procrastinators.

The company will be offering a “Procrastinators Event,” a special promotion for last-minute shoppers, from Dec. 17-22.

Bounty created new sales opportunities for retailers by putting its “quicker picker upper” heritage to the ultimate test as sponsor of the 14th Annual AKC/Eukanuba National Championship.

If there is ever a time when a paper towel brand doesn’t want to betray the trust of consumers it’s when they are cleaning up after their beloved pet. So what better place to put the capabilities of the Bounty brand to the test, and create sales opportunities for retailers in the process, than by sponsoring one of the nation’s largest dog shows.

New York City - The International Council of Shopping Centers set new attendance records at its New York National Deal Making Conference, moved for the first time to the Javits Convention Center, held December 8 and 9, and keynoted by Donald Trump. The two-day event at the new location nearly doubled the size of the space from prior years, and drew more than 400 exhibiting companies and 9,600 attendees, representing a new attendance record and a 26% increase compared to the 2013 event.  

CHICAGO - In time for the holiday rush, General Growth Properties has introduced several new customer initiatives, including an arrangment with Uber to provide free trips (up to $60) to participating malls for all riders and free return trips for new Uber riders or those who spend more than $150 during their visit.   The shopping center developer is providing omni-channel initiatives like same day delivery; enhanced guest experience services; and one-of-a-kind holiday attractions.  

San Francisco – To serve the needs of tech-oriented holiday shoppers, “Wired” is opening a pop-up store in New York City and an e-shop at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The annual holiday pop-up in New York showcases items hand-selected by “Wired” editors and curators, and will be open Dec. 11-21.    

Menomonee Falls, Wis. – Consumers who want to shop at odd hours to avoid dealing with holiday crowds will have plenty of opportunities at Kohl’s. Kohl’s Department Stores will keep its doors open for more than 100 hours straight from 6 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 19 through 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 24.  

As holiday shoppers hunted for online deals Thanksgiving weekend the Overstock.com Web site provided fertile hunting grounds.

The retailer said its sales between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday increased 23 percent compared to the same period the prior year. In addition to new customers, the increase was driven by an 8 percent increase in average individual order size. Cyber Monday sales increased 24 percent while Thanksgiving day saw the largest gain, up 38 percent off of a smaller initial base than Cyber Monday.