Seasonal

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation is putting its faith in the holidays by upgrading its spending forecast for the season.

After initially anticipating sales growth of 2.8%, the NRF said it now expects holiday sales to rise 3.8% to $469.1 billion. The projection may be lower than the 5.2% increase the retail industry saw last year, but the group said a number of factors, such as strong year-over-year sales and the fact that not all consumers have completed their holiday shopping lists, could provide the industry with a great gift after all.

WAYNE, N.J. -- Toys"R"Us announced that its stores nationwide will remain open for 112 uninterrupted hours beginning at 6am on Tuesday, Dec. 20 and continuing through 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

In conjunction with continuous shopping during the last few days leading up to Christmas, Toys"R"Us will hold a two-day sale from Tuesday, Dec. 20 to Wednesday, Dec. 21.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation said Thursday that it has upwardly revised its holiday forecast, now expecting holiday sales to rise 3.8% this year to a record $469.1 billion. 

NRF’s initial forecast, announced on October 6, called for anticipated sales growth of 2.8%. While a 3.8% sales increase is considerably above the 10-year average sales increase of 2.6%, it is still lower than the 5.2% increase the retail industry saw last year, said NRF.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Pier 1 Imports continued its streak of strong same-store sales for the third quarter, reporting that same-store for the quarter ended Nov. 26 sales increased 7% versus last year’s increase of 10.2%. Net income for the quarter was $23 million, or 21 cents per share, which included an income tax provision of $12.4 million.

RESTON, Va. -- Data released Wednesday by comScore showed that holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 42 days of the 2011 holiday season is up 15% year-over-year. Through “Green Monday,” Dec. 12, $26.8 billion has been spent online.

The most recent week (week ending Dec. 11) reached a record $6.1 billion in spending, in line with the season-to-date’s 15% growth rate, according to the report.    

CHICAGO — A new report by ShopperTrak found that sales continue to rise despite flat year-over-year figures.

Sales for the week ended Dec. 10 rose 10.6% above the prior week, while year-over-year sales saw a decline of 1.9%. The drop, which followed a 0.2% year-over-year increase during the week ended Dec. 3, is not an indication that holiday sales will be dismal this year; the firm suggested that it may have been caused by the shifting dates of Hanukkah — moving from Dec. 1 in 2010 to Dec. 20 this year.

New York City -- The IBM Benchmark snapshot, released Wednesday, of online retail data showed growing strength in the category.

According to the data, online sales for the week of Dec. 5 were up 7.3% year over year. On Monday, Dec. 12, online sales were up 11.8% over the same day in 2010.

NEW YORK — A new survey by Angus Reid Public Opinion revealed a number of similarities and differences between the holiday shopping habits of people in North America and the United Kingdom.

The survey found that 40% of Americans, 41% of Canadians and 49% of Britons said they plan to spend less during the 2011 holiday season than they did last year, though 16% of Americans and 21% of Canadians said they're now in better financial situations. By contrast, 39% of Americans and 28% of Canadians said they're in worse shape, compared with 55% of Britons.