Winter Holidays

Plano, Texas – J.C. Penney Co., Inc. will reportedly hire about 35,000 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season. According to Reuters, holiday workers will help perform tasks such as assisting customers and updating price signage.

J.C. Penney also hired about 35,000 seasonal employees during the 2011 holiday season. The retailer did not release holiday hiring figures last year.

New York – Barnes & Noble, Inc. is offering Member Appreciation Days, a special savings event for new and current Barnes & Noble loyalty members. Starting Sept. 26 through Sept. 29, members will receive a 20% in-store discount on products in Barnes & Noble stores nationwide including books, gifts, toys, games, movies, and café items.

Members already receive a 10% discount on most purchases, as well as 40% of hardcover books and online savings.

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.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us, Inc. plans to hire 45,000 employees to staff its stores and distribution centers nationwide for the upcoming holiday season. This number is basically flat from last year’s holiday staffing totals.

Toys “R” Us is preparing for the holiday season with plans to hire 45,000 employees to staff its stores and distribution centers nationwide. This number is basically flat from last year’s holiday staffing totals.

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.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. plans to hire 55,000 seasonal associates for the 2013 holiday season, up from 50,000 last year. In addition, the retailer intends to transition more than 35,000 associates from temporary to part-time and another 35,000 associates from part-time to full-time.

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.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. reportedly plans to hire 70,000 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season, about 20% less than the 88,000 seasonal workers it hired for last year’s holiday season.

According to the Associated Press, Target wants to give full-time employees more opportunity to take on extra holiday hours. The retailer also wants to better anticipate and schedule for fluctuations in holiday traffic. About one-third of seasonal employees brought on last year obtained full-time jobs at Target.

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: