Consumer Electronics

Schaumburg, Ill. - Nearly one in five Americans will shop on Black Friday, and more than half (61%) plan to spend $100 to $500, according to a new survey by The Nielsen Company.  Among the likely Black Friday winners are department stores, with 76% of consumers planing to shop the channel, and supercenters/mass merchandisers, where 55% will shop.

New York City -- Microsoft on Thursday opened a store in Bellevue, Wash., close to its headquarters in Redmond.

It is the company’s seventh store to date, but more expected, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company expects a “pretty aggressive roll-out schedule” of new stores next year, the report said.

New York City -- Forest City Ratner Cos., a subsidiary of Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, announced Thursday that Dick's Sporting Goods, Orvis and REI, along with three national restaurant chains making their New York debuts, have join the growing tenant line-up at Westchester's Ridge Hill.

Nampa, Idaho -- Beachwood, Ohio-based Developers Diversified Realty Corp. said Thursday it has completed construction of the 52,000-sq.-ft. Edwards Nampa Gateway Stadium 12 Theater, now open at the Nampa Gateway Center, a 921,200-sq.-ft. shopping center in Nampa, Idaho.

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop Corp. reported Thursday that net earnings for the third quarter increased 4.8% to $54.7 million, from $52.2 million in the prior year quarter.

Total sales increased 3.5% to $1.90 billion.

U.S. segment same-store sales were 5.3%, while total company same-store sales increased 1.1%.

Year-to-date, GameStop has opened 156 net new stores: 89 in the United States; 47 in Europe; eight in Canada; and 12 in Australia/New Zealand. The video game retailer currently operates 6,606 stores in 17 countries.