Home Depot

Walmart chief marketing and merchandising officer Duncan Mac Naughton told investors during an October meeting that the retailer would have the largest share of voice during the holiday season and that was certainly evident during November, according to data released this week from Kantar Media Ad Intelligence and Placed.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in Nov. 2012 versus Nov. 2013 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. Last month, Toys “R” Us experienced a decrease of more than 65% on the page count and ads per circular metrics. For the month of Nov., however, the toy retailer completely reversed course with year-over-year increases in page count and ads per circular accompanied by a very minor decrease in ads per page.

Purchase, N.Y. — Old Navy has taken a 13,500-sq.-ft. space in Orange Plaza, an 815,000-sq.-ft. power center in Middletown, N.Y., according to National Realty & Development Corp.

A Wal-Mart Supercenter, Kohl’s Department Store, Burlington Coat Factory, Marshalls, Bed Bath & Beyond and The Home Depot anchor the center. Orange Plaza draws shoppers from a 25-mile circle including the Hudson Valley and areas in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Thanks to a housing market that continues to flourish, Lowe's had a solid third quarter, with sizable gains in earnings and sales.

The company's net earnings jumped 26% to $499 million. Sales for the quarter increased 7.3% to $13 billion, up from $12.1 billion in the year ago quarter. Comparable sales for the quarter increased 6.2%.

Atlanta -- The Home Depot reported net earnings of $1.4 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2013, up 48% from $948 million in the same quarter of the prior fiscal year.  The retailer raised its 2013 forecast for the third time this year amid rising home prices.

"Our third quarter results reflect the continuing improvement in the housing market and our solid operational performance," said Frank Blake, chairman & CEO.

Home Depot reaped the benefits of continuing improvement in the housing market with third quarter sales of $19.5 billion, a 7.4% increase from $18.1 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

On a like-for-like basis (last year's quarter had an extra calendar week), comparable-store sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 were positive 7.4%, and comp sales for U.S. stores were positive 8.2%.

Ottawa, Canada – Amazon.com has the best price on products in its assortment about 80% of the time. However, the new “Amazon Holiday Pricing Insights” analysis from pricing technology provider 360pi shows that Amazon does have weak spots, and that retailers can compete with the online giant, especially if they can beat Amazon on other non-price purchase factors.

Atlanta – The Home Depot is taking steps to make amends for a racist tweet it sent from its official account on Nov. 7. The tweet, a promotion aligned with ESPN college football coverage, showed a photo of two African-Americans playing the drums along with a person wearing a gorilla mask and the caption: “Which drummer is not like the others?”