Winter Holidays

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears announced that it has partnered with H&R Block to launch a new website dedicated to helping consumers prepare for tax season. 

It was a record year for online sales this past holiday season, but Target saw others experience stronger growth, according to the most recent site visitation statistics from online measurement firm comScore.

As previously reported, the size of the prize this holiday season was $37.2 billion. That’s the volume of online sales comScore recorded during November and December, which was a 15% increase from the prior year.

London -- A report released Thursday by the Confederation of British Industry said that U.K. retail sales fell in January at the fastest pace in almost three years, reversing an increase in December when discounting by stores drew shoppers.

The gauge of annual sales growth fell to minus 22, the lowest since March 2009, from nine in December, according to the report.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Sam's Club has expanded its Simply Right brand to include a line of quality and affordable vitamins, the retailer announced.

Sam's Club said its brand, which replaces its Member's Mark line, features refined packaging and vitamins that are formulated to deliver the same benefits in a smaller pill, making it ideal for members and families who have difficulty swallowing pills, Sam's Club said. The line includes triple strength fish oil, Co Q-10 softgels, glucosamine HCl and vitamin D3.

New York City -- A report released Monday by the National Retail Federation said that retail industry sales growth for 2012 is forecasted at 3.4%, a pace slower than 2011’s 4.7% growth.

Still, said NRF, the retail industry will grow at a rate faster than many other industries.

New York City -- ShopperTrak reported Monday that national retail sales, when compared with the same period last year, rose 3.5% during November and December, while foot traffic decreased 3.1%.

By Jill Puleri, [email protected]

The recently concluded holiday season was a happy one for most retailers, thanks in part to a recovering economy, heightened consumer confidence and no debilitating weekend snowstorms.

Oh, and wide acceptance of technology gadgets and experiences may have helped a bit, too.

Was it a good holiday season or a bad one? Depends who you ask and how results are interpreted as evidenced by conflicting perspectives on U.S. Commerce Department statistics released Thursday morning.

It was widely reported that December sales were a disappointment by media outlets, which cited Commerce Department statistics released Thursday morning showing a rise of 0.1% versus the 0.3% that was widely reported as the expectation of economists.