Apparel

New York -- Eddie Lambert’s ESL Partners has reduced the size of its stake in Sears Holdings Corp. disclosing in a regulatory filing on that it now owns 48.4% of its shares, down from 55.4%.

In a statement, Lampert said that his fund had distributed 7.4 million shares in Sears to investors who wanted to withdraw money from his firm.  He said that he had not sold any of his personal holdings.

New York -- Uniqlo, a division of Japan’s Fast Retailing, announced the promotion of Lawrence (Larry) H. Meyer to CEO of Uniqlo USA.
 
Meyer left his post as executive VP of Forever 21 to join Uniqlo in January 2013 as COO. Prior to Forever 21, he served as CFO of Gymboree.

In his new role, Meyers will oversee the day-to-day operations of Uniqlo and hold responsibility for the ongoing development of the company’s retail footprint in the USA.
 

Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo USA division named a new CEO with a familiar name to lead what is expected to be an accelerated growth plan.

Uniqlo elevated existing COO Lawrence Meyer to the role of CEO to lead is 17 unit U.S. operation roughly one year after he joined the company. In his new role, Meyer will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Uniqlo brand and be responsible for the ongoing development of the company retail footprint in the U.S.

Sears Holdings chairman and CEO Eddie Lampert has pared down his stake in the retailing company, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed that Lampert reduced his stake in Sears Holdings to 48.4%, from a 55.4% stake reported in March. That leaves him with about 51.6 million shares in the company, whose stock was valued at $50.38 per share Wednesday morning on the NASDAQ, down from its opening price of $52.62.

MasterCard Spending Pulse reported that U.S. electronics retailers hit the jackpot with their early Thanksgiving openings, recording triple-digit growth on Thanksgiving Day this year compared to 2012.

According to the November report, which tracks retail sales across all forms of payment, including credit cards, cash and check, sales for the electronics category shot up on Thanksgiving; however, sales in that sector declined slightly on Black Friday.

Although sales at Express during Thanksgiving week exceeded last year's, results did not meet the company’s expectations and it’s bracing itself for a tough holiday shopping season.

The specialty retail apparel chain operating approximately 630 stores reported net sales of $503 million, an increase of 7% from $468.5 million in the third quarter of 2012. Comparable sales increased 5% versus a decline of 5% in last year's third quarter. E-commerce sales increased 29% to $71.2 million this quarter, above last year's third quarter increase of 21%.

Black Friday came early for Rakuten.com Shopping. The online marketplace saw a huge jump in visits to the site, consumer sales and conversion on and leading up to the biggest shopping day of the year.

Rakuten.com Shopping reported a rise in consumer sales and traffic beginning the Monday before the big sale days, with a spike on Thanksgiving Day and a crescendo at 10 a.m. PST on Black Friday.

Plano, Texas  -- J. C. Penney said that its same-store sales rose 10.1% for the fiscal month ending November 30, 2013.  The retailer's stock was up 4.6% to $10.57 percent in after-hours trading Tuesday.

New York -- Visa reported that Black Friday weekend e-commerce sales across smart phones, tablets and PCs conducted by U.S. Visa accountholders increased 30% to $7.8 billion.

The company also noted that Cyber Monday ruled the five-day period with spending on Visa cards up 28% to $2.6 billion while Thanksgiving Day saw a 30% jump to nearly $1 billion.

New York -- Investor Engaged Capital LLC has urged Abercrombie & Fitch to start a search for a new chief executive officer and consider selling the company, Bloomberg reported. The company owns less than 1% of the retailer’s shares outstanding.