Seasonal

By Greg Smith

As companies brace themselves for the recently added holiday known to American shoppers as Cyber Monday, they should be aware of the potential security threats looming with the activity centered around the largest online shopping day of the year. 

San Francisoco -- Westfield announced that its Westfield San Francisco Centre is unveiling new culinary and retail offerings such as British casual sportswear retailer Burberry Brit, Red Valentino, Italian fashion house Gucci, the Christmas Treasure pop up holiday shop, celebrity chef Martin Yan’s M.Y. China, Godiva Truffle Bar and more.
 

New York -- Seventeen percent of consumers, or 41 million people, plan to take advantage of increased shopping hours on Thanksgiving hours to shop, according to the latest consumer holiday tracking survey by The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs.

Any trickle-down of an improving economy hasn't trickled down to Fred's consumer base, Bruce Efird, Fred's CEO, told analysts Tuesday morning in discussing the discounter's third-quarter results. "During the third quarter we continue to see generally weak economic conditions throughout the Southeast which are clearly weighing heavily on our customers and influencing how they shop for their basic needs," he said. "It's more evident that things are not getting better for our core customers."

NEW YORK — Victoria’s Secret returned to Manhattan in a big way this week with the reopening of a flagship store in Herald Square that was expanded to 8,000-sq.-ft.

The opening comes just in time to allow Victoria’s secret to capitalize on holiday sales in New York as local demand tends to be complemented by an influx of foreign tourists. On hand for the reopening of the newly expanded and now largest flagship store in the world were Victoria's Secret Angels Adriana Lima, Miranda Kerr, Candice Swanepoel and Lily Aldridge.

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters reported Monday that net income in the third quarter rose 17.4% to $59.5 million, compared with $50.7 million in the prior-year period but missing Wall Street estimates.

Sales rose 13.6% to $692.9 million, narrowly missing analysts’ expected $692.5 million in revenue. Same-store sales dipped 1%.

Corpus Christi, Texas -- IMI and Trademark Property Group announced that its La Palmera mall in Corpus Christi, Texas, will be joined by a 6,5000-sq.-ft. Longhorn Steakhouse in 2013, along with Papaya, which opened 6,350-sq.-ft. store, and Flip Flop Shops. Pandora will open a 1,703-sq.-ft. store before the holidays.

La Palmera is a 1-million-sq.-ft. super-regional mall featuring Dillard’s, J.C. Penney, Macy’s, P.F. Chang’s and Coach.

New York -- Retail sales growth in the United States will rebound from the third quarter this holiday season, but will be down on the previous  two years' robust gains, according to a new report by Moody's Investors Service. The study, "Holiday Sales Will Overcome the U.S. Fiscal Policy Grinch," also finds that earnings growth will be slightly stronger.