Winter Holidays

The big news for retailers this holiday season has been the strong surge in online shopping. It’s not that high online volumes weren’t expected; estimates placed online purchases to be as high as 20% of total holiday sales this year.

It seems we’ve hit a tipping point, however, where online promotions are of equal or greater importance to Black Friday retail success than in-store promotions, and where Cyber Monday has morphed into Cyber Week.

Big Lots narrowed its loss in the third quarter as the retailer attracted more shoppers to its stores with new merchandising and marketing strategies.

For the period ended Oct. 31, Big Lots reported a loss of $1.5 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with $3.4 million, or 6 cents, a year earlier. Same store sales increased 2.6% Revenue edged up less than a percentage point to $1.12 billion.

Roosevelt Field in Garden City, New York, is offering shoppers an up-close look at some unusual and pricey holiday gift suggestions.

The center, owned by Simon, has teamed up with Neiman Marcus for the first ever Neiman Marcus' 2015 Fantasy Gifts public installation.

Target Corp. is bringing back a beloved family film classic just in time for the holidays — and getting in some prime time high-profile marketing in the process.

The retailer has teamed up with ABC to show “Mary Poppins.” It's the first time in more than 13 years that the movie has been shown on television. The movie will be aired on Dec. 12, from 8 – 11 pm EST on ABC, which is owned by Disney.

For many years, Black Friday sales promotions have defined the retail environment during the long Thanksgiving weekend. Despite evidence that Black Friday has lost some of its luster, it remains a very large shopping event and is actively contested by major retailers.

Indeed, according to the NRF, close to 102 million consumers shopped in brick-and-mortar stores over the Black Friday holiday weekend.

Barnes & Noble’s new CEO Ron Boire, who took the reins of the company in September, wants to transform the chain into a “lifestyle brand” by expanding its selection of toys, games, gadgets and other gifts, according to a report in The New York Times.

The newspaper quoted Boire as saying that “Everything we do around learning, personal growth and development fits our brand. There’s a lot of opportunity.”

Everything old is new again at American Eagle Outfitters, apparently with good reason.

The teen apparel retailer on Wednesday named Jay L. Schottenstein as CEO,  effective immediately.   Schottenstein, who has served as interim chief  since January 2014, will also continue in his role as executive chairman of the board. The news of  his appointment came as the retailer reported a strong increase in its third quarter earnings.  It was the chain’s third consecutive quarter of increased sales and profits.

The CEO of Lands End says the challenging retail environment and unseasonably warm weather did not help the company's turnaround plan in the third quarter. 

The online apparel retailer said that for the period ended Oct. 31, net revenue was $334.4 million, compared to $373.1 million in the third quarter last year. Net income was $10.7 million, compared to $18 million in the third quarter last year.