Retail

Atlanta -- An improved housing market boosted Home Depot in its latest quarter, as the home improvement retailer reported Tuesday that net income for the third quarter rose to $947 million from $934 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue climbed 4% to $18.13 billion, edging Wall Street’s estimated $17.92 billion in revenue. Same-store sales rose 4.3% in the U.S. and 4.2% overall.

Chicago -- ShopperTrak released a forecast on Tuesday that indicates certain days during the holiday shopping season will be quieter than others. The "10 best days to shop," according to ShopperTrak, are those with the least amount of foot traffic in stores. The weekdays after the busy Thanksgiving weekend top the list.

DLC Management Corp., based in Tarrytown, N.Y., is one of those savvy shopping center companies that seems to instinctively know what to buy, what to sell, what to redevelop, what to re-merchandise.  

And, most of all, DLC knows what will turn a shopping center on its ear.

By Craig Johnson, johnson@customergrowthpartners.com

Los Angeles -- Survey results released Tuesday by PriceGrabber found that 71% of consumers believe that retailers offer better deals during Thanksgiving weekend than they do during the rest of the winter holiday shopping season, up from 58% in 2011.

When consumers who indicated that the best deals can be found over the Thanksgiving weekend were asked which days retailers offer the best prices, 71% said Black Friday (Nov. 23), down from 80% in 2011 and 86% in 2010, and 41% said Cyber Monday (Nov. 26), up from 37% last year and 33% in 2010.

Minneapolis -- In his Tuesday address to investors and stockholders in New York City, newly minted Best Buy Co. CEO Hubert Joly acknowledged that sales and profits are on a decline, and presented a plan to shore up finances and operations by cutting expenses, rethinking footprints and improving both offline and online customer satisfaction. Part of the plan involved tapping former Williams-Sonoma exec Sharon McCollam as its new CFO.

Gloucester -- TradeSone Software, provider of merchandise lifecycle management (MLM) solutions that unify the design, sourcing, ordering and delivery of retail goods, announced that Ascena Retail Group has gone live with TradeStone’s PLM for Retail and  Collaborative Sourcing in 18 weeks at its subsidiary, Tween Brands, which encompasses both the Justice and Brothers retail banners.

Dallas -- Zale Corp. today announced the addition of consumer finance company, Genesis Financial Solutions, Inc., to its U.S. alternative financing program.

The partnership with Genesis is consistent with the company’s strategy to enhance access to financing for its customers. This new financing option, which became available in October, is offered in Zales, Zales Outlet and Gordon’s retail stores.