Winter Holidays

San Francisco -- A survey released Monday by online reservation firm OpenTable found that, when Valentine’s Day bookends a weekend, it tends to benefit restaurants.

Valentine’s Day, which falls on a Thursday this year, will likely be celebrated beyond the official day, as diners continue to celebrate over the following weekend.

The Valentine’s Day survey also found that the projected check average this year is $139, which is 63% higher than the typical OpenTable check average of $85 per couple. 

Brisbane, Calif. -- Bebe Stores Inc. swung to a loss in its fiscal second quarter from a profit a year ago amid heavy discounting during the holiday shopping season.

Bebe said it lost $4.8 million for the three months that ended Dec. 29, according to preliminary results, versus a profit of $6.5 million a year earlier.

Net sales dropped 11% to $135.5 million. Same-store sales fell 10.5%.

Organized labor was dealt a setback in its attacks on Walmart on Thursday when the National Labor Relations Board sided with the retailer in a dispute involving the United Food and Commercial Workers.

The UFCW reached a settlement with Walmart stemming from demonstrations the union organized at various Walmart stores on Black Friday. The protests received considerable media attention at the time as the union sought to persuade Walmart employees to walk off the job on the busiest day of the year.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid reported a slight increase in same-store sales for the month of January, thanks in part to strong sales of flu products.

Washington -- Consumers aren’t quite ready to shell out the big bucks for their loved ones this Valentine’s Day as much as they were last year. The 2013 Valentine's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey conducted for the National Retail Federation by BIGinsight shows only a slight increase in expected sales this year with the average person planning to spend $130.97 on candy, cards, gifts and more, up from $126.03 last year. Total spending will reach $18.6 billion.

LOS ANGELES — Consumers expect to spend slightly more on Valentine's Day merchandise this year than last year, according to a report by market research firm IBISWorld.

The report forecasts spending of $134.08 per person, compared with last year's $133.99. Total revenue for the holiday is expected to grow by 3.2%, to $20.8 billion, despite incomes and consumer sentiments remaining below what they were before the recession.

By Kevin Farkas, [email protected]

Washington, D.C. -- Retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) will increase 3.4%, down slightly from 4.2% in 2012 and 5.8% in 2011, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2013 economic forecast.

The lukewarm forecast, released Monday, comes on the heels of a holiday season that went head-to-head with Washington’s political wrangling over fiscal concerns, shifting consumers’ spending plans downward. In the end, holiday sales in 2012 grew 3.0%.