Seasonal

The consumer electronics category is expected to set a holiday sales record this season and one of the hottest brands going right now is the GoPro line of cameras and accessories.

That explains why Best Buy just expanded its offering of the popular brand to feature a striking 12 foot display that features an endcap with a 40 inch monitor to showcase the type of video the GoPro line is capable of capturing. A centerpiece of the display will be the brand’s new HERO4 model which will be available on October 5.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company and HBO will host a free, all-star concert to honor the nations veterans and their families on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to be presented live on HBO on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

The line-up of performers scheduled to appear at The Concert for Valor include Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Jamie Foxx, Dave Grohl, Metallica, John Oliver, Rihanna, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band, as well as special appearances by Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, among others.

Denver - Location marketing provider Placeable is predicting that online sales will grow by more than 15% during the 2014 holiday season, compared to the same period the prior year, more than tripling the anticipated 4%-5% growth rate for overall holiday sales. However, Placeable expects more than 90% of holiday sales to take place in brick-and-mortar stores, with 58% of consumers shopping at a national retailer they normally don’t visit.

Other Placeable predictions for the 2014 holiday season include:

Denver - Wrap & Send Services, a luxury retail packing and shipping solution, is offering professional in-store and warehouse support for the 2014 holiday season. Currently, Wrap & Send Services works with many luxury big-box stores in New York City, as well as 30 cities across the U.S.

Wrap & Send's expert packing and shipping solution help manage the volume, cost, speed and branding standard that is required when shipping from the store.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Holdings Corp. is selling most of its 51% stake in its Sears Canada division to shareholders as its looks to boost its liquidity before the crucial holiday selling season. Sears, which previously said it was exploring options for the struggling Sears Canada unit and retained Bank of America Merrill Lynch in May 2014, expects to raise as much as $380 million by November 2014. 

As part of its agenda to boost liquidity ahead of the highly contested holiday shopping season, Sears Holdings plans to sell most of its 51% stake in its struggling Sears Canada division to shareholders — a move that stands to raise as much as $380 million by November.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Shoppers are planning to spend less money and purchase gifts for fewer people this holiday season compared to last year, while also maximizing their budgets through Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales and online cost comparison, according to the CFI Group 2014 Holiday Retail Spending Report: Black Friday is Back.  

New York - Imports to the U.S. were up in August from July, and there was a measurable year-over-year increase. According to a new report from supply chain research firm Panjiva, imports in August 2014 were 4% higher than imports the same month the prior year.

Dublin, Calif. -- Ross Dress for Less will open a new store in Colorado on Oct. 11. The store is located in Prairie Center in the community of Brighton, eight miles northwest of Denver.

This new opening is part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year.

Austin, Texas - Based on previous savings experienced during the holiday season in 2013 and projected industry growth in 2014, U.S. shoppers have the opportunity to save more than $5 billion dollars by using deal and offer websites during the upcoming holiday season. According to a new study from RetailMeNot and Dr. Jason Abrevaya, Ph.D., economics department chair at the University of Texas at Austin, consumers have the potential to save more than $200 an hour while using RetailMeNot.com, or $34 in 10 minutes.