Retail

Despite sluggish comparable store sales in the second quarter, Container Store chairman and CEO Kip Tindell is pleased with the company’s overall earnings performance, driven in part by increased average ticket growth as well as new store growth.

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday said it will no longer provide health benefits to part-time associates who work less than 30 hours a week in a move to control its rising healthcare costs. The chain, the nation’s largest private employer, said the decision will impact about 2% of its total U.S. work force.

The announcement follows similar decisions by Target, Home Depot, Walgreens and Trader Joe’s to cut health insurance benefits for part-time associates.  

Montreal -- Raymark said that select members of the Luxury Jewelers Resource Group (LJRG) have selected Raymark's end-to-end suite of solutions for point-of-sale (including mobile), clienteling, merchandising, replenishment, open-to-buy planning, purchasing, repairs, reporting and analytics.

The Raymark banners include Fink’s Jewelers, Hamilton Jewelers, Hyde Park Jewelers, Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry, London Jewelers, Lux Bond & Green, Tapper’s Diamond & Fine Jewelry, Tivoli and Traditional Jewelers.

The 2014 holiday shopping season will be characterized by cautious spending, while economic realities create one of two American holiday shoppers — survivalists and selectionists — according to a new report released Tuesday from PricewaterhouseCoopers U.S. and Strategy, titled "2014 Holiday Outlook: Top trends, consumer behaviors and implications for retailers."

Springfield, N.J. – Store closing and pre-opening costs, as well as an unfavorable state tax ruling, reduced net income at Village Super Market Inc. 5% to $5.87 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, from $6.2 million in the same quarter the prior year. Two new store openings helped boost net sales 5.5% to $383.8 million, from $376.3 million.

Same-store sales rose 9%. For fiscal 2015, Village Super Market expects same-store sales to range from flat to slightly positive.

For the first time in its history, Amazon will feature top deals from sellers on holiday deal pages worldwide. The holiday deals from sellers will now appear on the Amazon Today’s Deals page, Black Friday Store, Cyber Monday Store and many other high customer traffic site features.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects sales in November and December (excluding autos, gas and restaurant sales) to increase a healthy 4% to $616.9 billion, higher than 2013’s actual 3% increase during that same time frame. This would mark the first time since 2011 that holiday sales would increase more than 4%.

By Scott Fenwick, Manhattan Associates

For the average consumer, the holiday season probably seems far away. As we recover from back-to-school mayhem, holiday shopping lists are not likely to be top of mind. Very soon, however, decorations will begin creeping onto store shelves, and seasonal commercials will make their first appearances during our favorite TV shows.