Apparel

Holiday sales are up 2.3% so far this season with the bulk of gift card redemptions yet to contribute to the results, according to new data from MasterCard SpendingPulse.

Whitehouse, Ohio — Devonshire REIT has acquired five retail properties in Ohio for $31 million. The properties include:

•    Monroe Street Square Shopping, a 124,904-sq.-ft. center in Toledo, Ohio, anchored by Hobby Lobby. Tenants include Sally Beauty Supply, Gamestop, Play It Again Sports and Sprint PCS.

•    Bed Bath & Beyond Plaza, a 100% leased, 55,139-sq.-ft. center in Toledo, anchored by Bed Bath & Beyond. Tenants include SalonCentric and Edward D. Jones.

Seattle — Next fall, REI will open a 23,000-sq.-ft. store at Sun Center in Columbus, Ohio. That store will join a previously announced 23,400-sq.-ft. REI slated to open in the spring at Easton Gateway. The retailer opened its first Ohio store in Cincinnati in 2012.

REI is the nation’s largest consumer cooperative with 5.1 million active members and 132 stores.

New York – A Dutch arbitration panel has ordered Tiffany & Co. to pay Swatch damages of about $449.5 million plus interest in a breach of contract case dating back to 2011. The dispute stems from Swatch’s claim that Tiffany failed to honor its obligation to develop and sell Swatch watches under the Tiffany name and split the profits.

Chicago -- Rough weather last week prevented many last-minute shoppers from getting to the stores to finish up their holiday purchasing. ShopperTrak reported that for the week of Dec. 16 to Dec. 22, GAFO in-store retail sales decreased by 3.1% from the same week last year. Retail brick-and-mortar shopper traffic decreased by 21.2% compared to the same time period in 2012.

Holiday shoppers who order by 10 a.m. Christmas Eve can still receive same day delivery from online luxury goods retailer Net-A-Porter in the greater New York City area.

The retailer was offering customers shopping from, or sending gifts to New York City, and select areas of Bergen and Westchester counties on Tuesday, December 24th, the opportunity to receive merchandise the same day as long as orders were submitted by 10 a.m.

A Dutch arbitration panel has ordered Tiffany & Co. to pay Swatch damages of about $449.5 million plus interest in a breach of contract case dating back to 2011. The dispute stems from Swatch’s claim that Tiffany failed to honor its obligation to develop and sell Swatch watches under the Tiffany name and split the profits.

The amount is 8.8% of the total damages sought by Swatch. Tiffany will also have to pay about $8.8 million in fees, expenses and other arbitration costs. One arbitrator on the three-arbitrator panel did not rule in favor of Swatch.

I’ll hold off on talking about the holiday shopping season in detail until all the numbers are in, but it’s clear that we’ve already learned quite a lot from 2013. In fact, the more I think about this past year the more I think that the holiday numbers aren’t even the most important takeaway. What’s far more interesting to me is what 2013 has to tell us about where we go next. With that in mind, here’s my early take on what 2014 might have in store (and in stores!) for us:

Slow, steady and sustainable growth