Winter Holidays

Carle Place, N.Y. — 1-800-Flowers.com net income jumped to $3.1 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to $538,000 in the previous year period. Continued focus on leveraging its operating platform helped boost net income.

Walmart released its top toy list for 2014 the same day Toys “R” Us unveiled holiday strategies at its flagship store in New York.

This year, Nestlé Toll House is celebrating its Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsel’s 75th birthday.

Nestlé credits Ruth Wakefield Toll House with inventing chocolate chips. Wakefield ran the Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts. She broke a bar of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate into tiny pieces and added them to dough expecting to create a chocolate cookie. Instead, the semi-sweet pieces held their shape and softened to a creamy texture. Wakefield's "Toll House Crunch Cookie" recipe was published in a Boston newspaper.

During a Special Preview Event, Hank Mullany, president, Toys“R”Us, U.S., discussed steps the company has taken so far this year to prepare for the upcoming holiday season.

The company has bolstered its leadership team, completed inventory clearance event to make way for holiday products and launched a new loyalty program called Rewards“R”Us.

New York -- With just 105 shopping days left until Christmas (as of Sept. 10), Toys “R” Us outlined its holiday strategy at a preview event in New York City. Among the highlights: free online layaway, enhanced loyalty program, improved online and in-store checkout, and two new in-store shops.  
    
“Our focus at Toys “R” Us for the 2014 holiday season is to make it easy for customers to shop with us, both in-store and online,” said Hank Mullany, president, Toys “R” Us, U.S.

Stein Mart plans to open six new stores this fall just in time for Christmas. The store openings are part of the company’s 2014 store expansion plan, which includes nine new locations, strategically selected in key growth markets, and seven relocations.

The openings will bring the company's total nationwide store count to more than 270.

Merrimack, N.H. – Brookstone has named Blue Wolf Communications as an agency for public relations, social media and event marketing.

The relationship launches with major initiatives for the 2014 holiday season, the announcement of high-profile spokespeople, the introduction of many new products, and high-impact events for fall and winter.

Observant shoppers will have noticed something ominous in recent weeks: the arrival of fall and winter products and holiday marketing/promotions in many stores. As unbelievable as it might seem, considering the fact that much of the country is still experiencing 90-degree heat and a glance at the calendar shows that it is barely September as I write this, the holiday hullabaloo is already underway.