Budgets/Spending/Market Size

If it feels like summer just ended, that’s because it did: the first day of fall was Sept. 22. But you can bet your bottom dollar that retailers aren’t going to let a little thing like the calendar get in the way of moving forward with their holiday plans. In fact, if the recent spate of depressing economic news is any indicator, this year some brands might literally be betting their bottom dollar on the anticipated holiday sales boost.

New York -- Shaky consumer confidence and increased efficiencies among retailers may put a damper on retailers’ holiday hiring plans, according to global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

In its annual holiday hiring forecast, Challenger estimated that seasonal job gains will not see a significant decline from last year’s robust numbers, but they are likely to at best match the level of hiring that occurred in October, November, and December 2012.

Washington, D.C. -- Nearly 158 million consumers will participate in Halloween activities this year, slightly less than the historic high of 170 million people last year. New figures from the National Retail Federation (NRF) indicate the average consumer will spend $75.03 on Halloween this year, down 6% from $79.82 last year.

However, average overall spending on Halloween has increased 54.7% since 2005, with total spending estimated to reach $6.9 billion in 2013. Other NRF figures include:

New York -- Holiday sales are expected to climb to between $963 and $967 billion, representing a 4% to 4.5% increase in November through January holiday sales (excluding motor vehicles and gasoline) this year from last year’s season, according to the new Deloitte holiday sales forecast. The growth rate is on par with last year's 4.5% gain.

In addition, Deloitte forecasts a 12.5 to 13% increase in non-store sales. Nearly three-quarters of non-store sales result from the online channel with additional sales coming from catalogs and interactive TV.

Redwood Shores, Calif. – Cross-channel experiences are vital to customer experience. Recent customer experience studies of retail executives — by Oracle Corp. and Tata Consultancy Services — show that to 50% and 47% of respondents, respectively, cross-channel experiences are vital to providing overall customer experience.

Norton, Va. — Rivercrest Realty Associates has acquired the 81,297-sq.-ft. Norton Commons shopping center in Norton, Va., for $6,910,000.

Divaris Real Estate represented the seller, General Electric Credit Equities, in the transaction. At the time of the sale, the center, anchored by Burke’s Outlet, was 98% occupied.

Costa Mesa, Calif. – Almost half of holiday marketing campaigns will start before Halloween, according to a survey of 200 marketers by Experian Marketing Services.

In addition, the study shows that the first 15 days of November are the most popular time to launch a holiday-themed campaign.

Other results include:

Chicago -- Retail sales are forecast to rise 2.4% during the holiday season of November and December while total retail traffic will decrease 1.4% as compared to the year-ago period, according to ShopperTrak, a leading provider of shopper analytics. The company also notes that retailers have less time to capture peak holiday spending: There are only 25 days lie between Black Friday (Nov. 29) and Christmas this year, compared to 31 days in 2012. And unlike last year, consumers have only four (not five) full weekends to shop.

New York – The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index, which tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending, slightly dipped in August.

New York -- In the final hours of its 2013 regular session, the legislature in California voted to approve a bill that would raise the minimum wage from $8 an hour to $10 an hour within three years. Gov. Jerry Brown has indicated he would sign the bill into law, saying "The minimum wage has not kept pace with rising costs. This legislation is overdue and will help families that are struggling in this harsh economy."