Department Store

Plano, Texas – Myron Ullman, CEO of embattled department store chain J.C. Penney, has reportedly bought $1 million of company stock. According to the Associated Press, Ullman purchased 112,000 shares at $8.95 apiece on or around Nov. 22.

New York – Aeropostale Inc. has adopted a poison pill that would be set into motion if a stockholder buys 10% of the company.  

The struggling retailer said it was not adopting the plan, effective November 26, 2013, in response to any takeover proposal. Rather, the plan aims to provide stockholders with adequate time to fully assess a takeover bid, and, if appropriate, allow the board time to explore alternatives to maximize stockholder value, the company said.

Reston, Va. -- For the holiday season-to-date (Nov. 1 - 24), $18.9 billion has been spent online using desktop computers, up 14% versus the corresponding days last year, according to comScore. Tuesday, November 19 was the heaviest online spending day of the season to date at $963 million. Two other shopping days – Thursday, Nov. 14 and Sunday, Nov. 24 – have also seen at least $900 million in online retail spending.

An increase in third-quarter net sales was not enough to bolster Chico’s FAS’s net income, which took a hit from its Boston Proper business.

The company reported net income of $35.8 million, down 15% from $42 million in the same period a year earlier.

Boston – College students are planning to buy holiday gifts that offer experiential value or economic flexibility and will frequent discount stores, according to a new survey of roughly 1,000 college students from consumer marketing firm Fluent.

Armonk, N.Y. – Online sales on Monday, Nov. 26 were up nearly 12% from the equivalent Monday a year earlier. Data from the IBM Digital Analytics Holiday Benchmark shows that mobile traffic accounted for nearly 32% of all online traffic, up 42% compared to the same period last year.   

Wayne, N.Y. -- Toys “R” Us CEO Antonio Urcelay has replaced Gerald Storch as chairman of the company. Urcelay, appointed interim CEO at Toys “R” Us in May 2013, was officially named chief executive in October.

Storch, who had previously served as CEO, is stepping down as chairman to dedicate more time to his consulting company, Storch Advisors, Toys “R” Us said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Online sales early this week were up nearly 12% from the equivalent Monday a year earlier. Data from the IBM Digital Analytics Holiday Benchmark shows that mobile traffic accounted for nearly 32% of all online traffic, up 42% compared to the same period last year.