Winter Holidays

Millions of people worldwide will be surprised and delighted to receive a little blue box this holiday season, but a strong U.S.

Chico's FAS blamed the holiday calendar and a volatile stock market for its disappointing financial results in the third quarter.

Dollar Tree’s third quarter results weren’t as strong as the prior year, but all is well with the integration of Family Dollar and CEO Bob Sasser contends the combined company is well-positioned for the holidays.

Total sales increased 136% to $4.95 billion during the quarter ended Oct. 31, from $2.1 billion in the prior year’s third quarter. The surge in sales reflects the first full quarter in which sales from Family Dollar stores are included in results. Dollar Tree completed its acquisition of Family Dollar on July 6 creating a retailer with 13,600 stores.

Kmart is adding new features to its app aimed at holiday shoppers, including real-time, opt-in push notifications of exclusive online Bluelight Specials.

Leading footwear retailer DSW Inc. made significant omnichannel upgrades during the third quarter but warm weather kept shoppers from buying shoes in stores or online.

Sales declined 0.6% to $666 million and same store sales declined 3.9% compared to a 2.6% comp increase during the same period the prior year. Profits declined 20.7% to $39.3 million and earnings per share declined 20% to 44 cents, in line with the company’s guidance range of 41 cents to 44 cents.

REI's plea asking shoppers to skip Black Friday and go outside has prompted nearly 1 million endorsements for the retailer's #OptOutside social media campaign.

For Toys “R” Us chairman and CEO David Brandon, it’s all about having a successful holiday in 2015 — a short-term goal that he believes will pave the way to leveraging longterm opportunities.

Customers show surprisingly little reaction to loyalty programs, but for the upcoming holiday season this could be a good thing for retailers.

First it was Black Friday encroaching on Thanksgiving. Now, Cyber Monday is bleeding into Sunday night with Walmart and Target employing new promotional strategies.

Holiday is going to have a new look this year, as retailers take a different approach to the shopping season. As a result of consumers’ overwhelming focus on price, online shopping and free shipping incentives, retailers have been forced to rethink their strategies. As part of our ongoing series of retail industry surveys, HRC Advisory recently spoke with over a dozen top U.S. retailers to gauge what’s to come for the 2015 holiday season.