Seasonal

New York City -- Department store retailers enjoyed a strong November, with nearly all the leading chains topping analysts  projections.

Macy’s reported Thursday that its same-store sales rose 6.1% in November, boosted by a strong Black Friday weekend. The company raised its earnings guidance.

New York City -- The nation’s discount retailers and warehouse club operators posted strong sales in November, beating analysts’ expectations. The results were fueled by promotions and cold weather in some parts of the country, as well as strong Black Friday traffic.

Target Corp. said Thursday more shoppers came to its stores in November and spent more than a year earlier, helping to fuel a 5.5% rise in same-store sales during the month. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected a 3.7% gain.

Purchase, N.Y. -- MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report, released Thursday, showed that sales in most retail categories continued to gain momentum over an already strong October showing.

Year-over-year total apparel sales in November saw a 9.6% increase, the largest year-over-year growth in 2010 for that sector following the previous record in October. Total apparel has recorded eight out of 11 months of year-over-year gains so far in 2010. In November, all of the sub-sectors posted year-over-year growth.

New York City -- Retailers nearly across the board reported a strong start to the holiday season as their November sales were enhanced by aggressive discounting that started early in the month. Same-store sales rose 6% in November,  above the estimated growth of 3.6% and the year-ago gain of 0.6%, according to 27 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters. 

By Thomas Kiblin, [email protected]

Frenzied shopping trips, unexpected visitors and gift-wrap paper cuts -- I bet you thought consumers were the only ones suffering during the holidays. But have you ever thought that the holiday season is anything but fun for retailers IT departments?  It’s a time of scorching demand, long days and loads of customer transactions on systems typically not designed for peak performance. For retail in December, the pressure is on.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Pier 1 Imports said on Thursday that its same-store sales rose 10.2% for the quarter ended Nov. 27, a little better than it had expected when it made a prediction last month.

Third-quarter total revenue rose 8.3% to $354 million.

President and CEO Alex W. Smith said strong results in September and October carried into November and the Thanksgiving weekend. Pier 1 stores got more visitors who spent more money, compared with the same period last year, Smith said.