Seasonal

January 2014 is projected to be the coldest in three years for the U.S. as a whole. The storm track, which will favor the milder and wetter Pacific, will be driven inland across the West with storms moving into the Plains and then heading into the Great Lakes or re-developing off the New England coast. This pattern will produce colder trends across the East Coast, but there will be short warm-ups ahead of the storms that will help to keep average temperatures near normal.

Macy’s is looking to drive post-holiday shoppers to its stores with its “Week of Wonderful” campaign, which it started last year.

Aiming to capitalize on shoppers who are hitting stores to use their gift cards, the retailer is touting the seven-day shopping event as an opportunity for consumers to stock up on “fresh merchandise” for the New Year.  

Armonk, N.Y. -- Overall Christmas Day online sales were up 16.5% from the same period last year. IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark data for Dec. 25, 2013 shows mobile traffic was the highest IBM recorded this holiday season, accounting for 48% of all online traffic, up 28.3% compared to the same period last year.

Mobile sales also remained strong, approaching 29% of all online sales, up 40% from 2012.

Record levels of mobile traffic helped Christmas Day online sales advance 16.5%, according to IBM digital Analytics Benchmark data.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. household purchases rose 0.5% in November 2013. According to new figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce, this followed a 0.4% increase in October that was larger than previously reported and is the largest increase since July 2013.

The heartwarming story of a pit bull rescued from a life of torment as a bait dog earned the Pet Rescue Center in Mission Viejo, Calif., a $100,000 grant from the Petco Foundation and Ellen DeGeneres and her natural pet food company Halo.

The rescue group was chosen from among 4,500 submissions and awarded a check during the "Ellen" show on Dec. 23. Thirty-three other animal welfare groups split $500,000 as part of the Petco Foundation’s Holiday Wishes Grant Campaign.

Charleston, S.C. -- Only two-thirds of Americans are all or almost finished with their holiday shopping as of Dec. 23. Of the 24 retailers surveyed by America’s Research Group and Inmar, only three retained 70% or more of their customer base, with Wal-Mart topping the list at 88.1%, followed closely by Dollar Tree at 80.4%, and Target at 72.1%.

Chicago -- Rough weather last week prevented many last-minute shoppers from getting to the stores to finish up their holiday purchasing. ShopperTrak reported that for the week of Dec. 16 to Dec. 22, GAFO in-store retail sales decreased by 3.1% from the same week last year. Retail brick-and-mortar shopper traffic decreased by 21.2% compared to the same time period in 2012.