Winter Holidays

The resumption of top line growth at Stage Stores enabled the operator of 858 stores to reduce the size of its third quarter net loss, but CEO Michael Glazer is taking a cautious view of the holidays.

Zappos.com says it will celebrate Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend by donating 10 meals per order placed on Zappos.com in partnership with Feeding America, the leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

The company says the objective of its Fast, Free Giving effort is to give back this holiday season and for consumers to put their dollars behind more than just holiday gifts: to help those most in need, too.

Boca Raton, Fla. – Polaroid is opening three locations of its Fotobar experiential retail concept in the Los Angeles area, with the first debuting Nov. 18 at Westfield Culver City. The 300-sq.-ft.micro-stores offer a cube shape and Polaroid Color Spectrum logo, and customers can take a seat at the Fotobar and transform their pictures instantly from their smartphone, Facebook or Instagram  into three different size Polaroid pictures which can be collected in unique Polaroid shadowboxes or other picture accessories.  

For many shoppers, it’s that time of year to skip the holiday meal, devise a shopping strategy and get in line, right?

Well, not if you are a Toys”R”Us Rewards member.

The company is now among the growing ranks of retailers looking to create an aura of exclusivity with shoppers by promoting early access to the hottest holiday prices.

The retailer plans to give its nearly 19 million loyalty program members a sneak peek of Black Friday deals on more than 100 items beginning Nov. 23.

Hollywood, Calif. - Online and offline consumer conversations and recommendations account for 13% of consumer sales, on average, which represents $6 trillion in annual consumer spending. In higher price-point categories, word of mouth's impact is almost 20% of sales, according to a new study from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA).

New York, N.Y. - Just more than half of all Americans (51%) plan to purchase toys as gifts in the upcoming holiday season, nearly consistent with the prior year's intent (50%). Not surprisingly, according to a new Harris Poll of 2,205 U.S, adults, parents of a child under the age of 18 are twice as likely to purchase toys as those without children younger than the age of 18 (82% compared 41%, respectively).   

Framingham, Mass. – The TJX Companies Inc. met Wall Street expectations with net income of $594.96 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, down 4% from $622.65 million in the same quarter the prior year. Net sales rose 5% to $7.37 billion from $6.98 billion, short of Wall Street expectations.