Apparel

U.S. consumers spent an estimated $36.4 billion in online purchases during the period Oct. 31 to Dec. 24, according to MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse, registering a 15.4% year-over-year increase over the 2009 holiday season.

SpendingPulse reports on national retail and services sales and is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for all other payment forms, including cash and check.

New York City -- J. Crew is seeking $1.85 billion of debt to help fund its $3 billion buyout by TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP.

Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group are arranging a $1 billion seven-year term loan, $600 million in senior unsecured notes and a $250 million five-year asset-based revolving line of credit, according to a commitment letter attached to a regulatory filing, Bloomberg reported.

San Mateo, Calif. -- DemandTec, the collaborative optimization network for retailers and consumer products companies, announced that it has acquired substantially all of the assets of Applied Intelligence Solutions, LLC (AIS), a developer of intelligent software solutions for the retail enterprise with a specific focus on softline retailers.

By Craig R. Johnson

Reston, Va. -- A record $30.81 billion was spent online for the first 56 days of the November/December 2010 holiday season, marking a 13% increase versus the corresponding days last year, according to comScore. The most recent week (ending Dec. 26) witnessed $2.45 billion in spending, an increase of 17% versus the corresponding week last year.

Holiday shoppers continued to unleash three years of pent-up demand as the season winds up, on their way to setting a new record of over $521B, blasting through 2007’s pre-recession record of $508 billion, according to Customer Growth Partners. Based on CGP’s proprietary mall surveys and government retail data -- and despite Sunday’s Northeast blizzard -- the sales growth confirmed CGP’s +5% holiday sales forecast. [CGP’s data include e-commerce, unlike NRF, which excludes the same.]

Chicago -- Total GAFO retail sales for Christmas week (week ending Dec. 25) slipped 4.1% compared with last year, while the company’s retail traffic index (SRTI) reported a 6.8% total U.S. foot traffic decline for the same period, according to ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE). The 2010 calendar shift that placed Dec. 26 on a Sunday as opposed to a Saturday last year had the greatest impact on overall performance.

New York City -- Off-price retailer Daffy’s is launching an expansion push, including opening a store in Manhattan’s Times Square in the former home of the New York Times, Crain’s New York Business reported.

The 28,000-sq.-ft. Times Square store, to be located on West 44th Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues, is slated to open fall 2011. The store will have a ground-floor entrance, but the bulk of the space will be on the basement level.

Stratham, N.H. -- A Tuesday report by the Wall Street Journal said that outdoor gear retailer Timberland will expand its presence in mainland China from 110 stores currently to double that number.

According to the company’s president and CEO, Jeffrey Swartz, who was interviewed by WSJ, the retailer sees the potential to more than double its doors in the next three years.

Swartz said one way his company can connect with Chinese consumers is by highlighting its environmental credentials.

The largest retailer most people have never heard of — The Army & Air Force Exchange Service, or AAFES — has updated its store brand identity and design. The brand is now simply called the Exchange and has a new tagline, “You Save, We Give Back,” that conveys the organization’s competitive prices and mission to provide annual dividends to the Army’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation and Air Force Services programs.