Computers

Fort Worth, Texas -- At the conclusion of the current fiscal year on December 31, RadioShack will align its fiscal year-end to a traditional 52-week retail calendar with the fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to January 31st. RadioShack says this is the format used by the majority of retailers today.

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack will open its newest Houston location as a concept store on Nov. 9. All concept stores in the company's portfolio feature an upgraded shopping experience, which showcases the company's new look, and incorporates interactive areas designed to help shoppers improve their technology profile.

Some features include:

Beloit, Wis. – Online coupon provider FatWallet predicts a larger selection and assortment of lower-priced Black Friday deals in 2013 as compared to the previous year. Notable predictions include:

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack is giving shoppers the power to name their own deals with an interactive application on its e-commerce site where consumers can select the product and pricing, vote on and share the hot deals. On Nov. 27, consumers can redeem a limited number of coupon codes for "Name Your Deal" products at reduced prices.

Austin, Texas – Smartphones are starting to edge out other popular forms of consumer technology as holiday gifts. According to a new survey from RetailMeNot and The Omnibus Company, within the next five years, less than one-in-five winter holiday gift givers plan to buy someone a portable music player (19%), desktop computer (19%), GPS device (13%) or regular cell phone (9%) for the holidays.

Los Angeles – A majority of customers visit stores equipped with mobile devices. According to a new survey from mobile technology provider Useablenet, 70% of U.S., shoppers and 60% of U.K., shoppers have their mobile phone on their person in-store.

And 30% of U.S. shoppers use their smartphones to aid the shopping experience in-store, compared to 40% in the U.K. In addition, 77% of U.S., and 81% of U.K., consumers prefer to browse on smartphone but make purchases on a larger device, such as tablet or computer

Staples now carries Square Stand, hardware developed by Square that helps brick and mortar businesses turn an iPad into a complete point of sale, at stores and online.

Business owners will be able to process test payments using Square Stand and Square Register, Square's free point-of-sale software, at many Staples locations. Businesses that purchase a Square Stand from Staples in November will receive a free $200 Staples gift card.

A decrease in same-store sales in the consumer electronics and computing and wireless categories at Hhgregg, partially offset by an increase in the appliance and home products categories, resulted in a comparable-store sales decrease of 6.2% for the second quarter ended Sept. 30.

The appliance category comparable-store sales increase was driven by an increase in the average selling price. The home products category comparable-store sales increase was primarily a result of sales from the introduction of furniture and fitness equipment.