Budgets/Spending/Market Size

St. Louis – Most Americans will spend the same or less on holiday shopping this year as they did last year. According to a recent survey by financial services firm Edward Jones, 37% say they plan to spend less on holiday shopping in 2013 than they spent in 2012.

Los Angeles – A large number of shoppers do not appear to be setting aside any money for holiday spending this year, and four in 10 do not even intend to do any shopping for the upcoming holiday season.

According to recent GoBankingRates.com polls, more than 63% of respondents didn't allocate any savings toward holiday gift buying. In addition, more than 40% of respondents said they would not be buying holiday gifts this year at all.

Other findings include:

Fort Walton Beach, Fla. -- Edwin Watts Golf Shops on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, with the intention of selling the operating assets of the business.  

The company, owned by private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, listed estimated liabilities and assets of $100 million to $500 million.

Wakefield, Mass. – Most consumers in the U.S., U.K., and Australia are not using mobile technology for holiday shopping this year, but many will use mobile devices for product research and in-store showrooming. According to results of the 2013 Holiday Preferences Study from SDL, the majority of consumers in the U.S. (64%), U.K. (68%) and Australia (67%) are not using a tablet or smartphone more this year to purchase gifts.

Shoppers continue to integrate digital devices into their lives and crave an equally integrated experience from retailers, but satisfying this heightened set of ominchannel expectation remains a work in progress for most retailers.

Few retailers have a well-defined omnichannel strategy with most professing to be in the development phase, according to a global consulting firm Hay Group. This rather worrisome insight was among the key findings in global consuling firm Hay Group’s 7th annual holiday hiring survey.

Mountain View, Calif. – Millennial consumers age 18-34 are most likely to use online and mobile technology in their holiday shopping this year. According to a new survey from the Google 2013 Holiday Intentions Shopping Study, 95% of Millennials but only 87% of consumers age 35 and older plan to use the Internet as a tool for holiday shopping.

Lakeland, Fla. -- Publix reported net earnings for the third quarter fell 2.3% to $359.9 million, compared to $368.4 million in the year ago period.

Sales for the third quarter were $7 billion, up 5.6% from last year’s $6.7 billion. Same-store sales rose 4.1%.

Washington, D.C. —Marshall’s has opened its second Washington, D.C. store. According to the Washington, D.C., Economic Partnership, the 28,925-sq.-ft. store is located at the National Press Building at 14th and F Streets downtown. Marshall’s is planning a third location for the Shops at Dakota Crossing in the city’s northeastern quadrant.

New York -- The Container Store on Friday, Nov. 1, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol “TCS.” Expectations were high: On Thursday, the retailer set its IPO price at $18 per share, higher than the originally-expected range of $14 to $16 per share.

The company is offering all 12.5 million shares of common stock, with an additional 1.9 million shares 30-day purchase option for the underwriters.

Naperville, Ill. -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has approved the merger of Office Max Inc. and Office Depot, the retailers said in a joint statement on Friday. The companies anticipate completing the transaction after market close on November 5, 2013.