Seasonal

Los Angeles -- Fifty-two percent of consumers plan to spend $500 or more on gifts this season, according to a new survey by PriceGrabber, a part of Experian. Thirty-six percent said they will spend less than $500, and 12% indicated that they do not have a budget.

Other key findings of the survey, conducted from Sept. 7-15, 2011, include:

Consumers overwhelmingly chose clothing as the most popular holiday gift purchase (chosen by 66%), followed by gift cards (52%), books, CDs, DVDs or videogames (46%) and toys (43%).

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears Holdings announced that it is offering free shipping from Oct. 30 through Dec. 19 at Sears.com and Kmart.com. In addition, the company is offering free same-day store pick up. 

Free shipping applies to qualified mailable orders of more than $99 on Sears.com and $49 on Kmart.com or mygofer.com. To receive the savings, customers must enter the promo code SHIPREALJOY on Sears.com, HOLIDAY on Kmart.com and JINGLE49 on mygofer.com.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart on Monday said it will offer shoppers gift cards if they buy items and then see lower prices at other stores during the holiday season.

The chain’s "Christmas Price Guarantee" will apply to good purchased Walmart stores in the United States from Nov. 1 to Dec. 25. Under the program, shoppers who buy a product at Walmart and then find the identical item listed for a lower price at another store can receive a gift card for the difference.

Medford, Ore. -- Harry & David Holdings has named Craig Johnson as its CEO.

Johnson most recently served as chief supply chain officer of Guitar Center. Prior to that, he was CEO of Musician's Friend, a Guitar Center subsidiary. He has also held positions at Oriental Trading Co., Golfsmith International Holdings, and Coldwater Creek.

The company exited Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection last month.

Target is facing new holiday pricing pressure as Walmart announced the launch of its Christmas price guarantee.

Customers who purchase eligible products at Walmart anytime between Nov. 1 and Dec. 25, and then find those same products advertised for less at another store, will receive a Walmart gift card for the difference through Dec. 25. 

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Fresh & Easy will kick off its annual in-store holiday food drive across all of its stores next month in honor of National Food Bank Week.

From mid-November trough Dec. 31, customers can donate canned and boxed goods in specially designated boxes at Fresh & Easy stores in Arizona, California and Nevada.

Last holiday season, the retailer and its customers donated more than $1 million in food to local food banks and charities.

Sam’s Club home office last week hosted 50 competitive barbecue teams who traveled to Northwest Arkansas for the final round of competition in the inaugural Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour. The event kicked off back in April when teams battled for a spot in the championship, which was sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society.

The winner of the event, TippyCanoe BBQ Crew of St. Ansgar, Iowa, received a cash prize of $35,000, while a total of $400,000 in prize money was awarded to teams throughout the course of the tour.