Retail

Retail sales fell in September for the first time in six months, but the decline was credited to a drop-off in auto purchases. Most U.S. retail sectors actually experienced broad sales gains during the month, according to the National Retail Federation, which reported that, excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, retail sales grew a seasonally 0.6% compared to the previous month and 3.8% unadjusted compared to the prior year.

Results of specific sectors include:

The Jones Group had better-than-expected third-quarter results for fiscal 2013, as net income soared 67% to $28.3 million from $17.8 million. However, revenues in the quarter ended Oct. 5 fell about 1%, to $1.02 billion from $1.03 billion.

Crossmark has appointed former GlaxoSmithKline executive Janet Carter-Smith as VP of business development.

In her role, Carter-Smith will be focused on working with new client opportunities across Crossmark’s portfolio of services.

PriceGrabber, a leading distributed e-commerce platform and shopping site, conducted its Winter Holiday Shopping Survey and found that 69% of consumers plan to shop at the same retailers at which they shopped last year.

Riding the subway just got beautiful thanks to L’Oréal Paris as the beauty brand will launch the first-ever intelligent vending experience in the New York City subway system Monday, Nov. 4.

Sports Authority is the latest retailer beefing up staff ahead of the holiday shopping season. The specialty retailer plans to hire up to 5,000 part-time and temporary workers nationwide, a 20% increase from last year.

Sports Authority also plans to convert hundreds of seasonal workers into part-time and full-time team members after the holidays.

Closeout retailer Tuesday Morning reported a comparable-store increase of 9.1% for the first quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to the year-ago quarter. The comparable-store sales growth was fueled by a 13.4% increase in customer transactions and a 4.3% decrease in average ticket.

The company reported a net sales increase of 6.3% to $183.7 million, compared to $172.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Overstock.com has released the first commercial in its new series starring NFL coach and Hall-of-Famer Mike Ditka and quarterback Jim McMahon.

"Overstock.com was pleased to bring together the two powerhouses of Mike Ditka and Jim McMahon once again," said Overstock.com co-president, Stormy Simon. "Coach Ditka portrays the same passion and excitement we feel about our business."