Winter Holidays

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Multichannel video game retailer GameStop has announced plans to hire approximately 17,000 employees nationwide as the company prepares for the upcoming PlayStation 4 and Xbox One console launches, as well as the busy holiday shopping season.

Cincinnati -- Macy’s, Inc. plans to hire seasonal associates for approximately 83,000 positions at its Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores, call centers, distribution centers and online fulfillment centers nationwide for the 2013 holiday season. The company’s 2013 seasonal hiring plan will bring on approximately 4% more temporary workers than the 80,000 holiday employees it hired in 2012.

October 2013 is projected to be the coolest in four years for the U.S. as a whole. Expect colder year-on-year trends across the Northeast and Southwest, especially during retail weeks one, three and four. Wetter trends will encompass the Texas to Louisiana Gulf Coast, where tropical storm and hurricane potential will be the highest should any storms develop this month and threaten the U.S. mainland. The northern tier of the U.S. will trend drier than last year, especially across the Great Lakes.

In anticipation of increased store traffic this holiday shopping season, Jo-Ann has announced plans to hire more than 3,000 seasonal employees in stores across the country — a 14% increase over its non-seasonal in-store workforce.

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.