Department Store

New York City -- Although online sales grew 15% from 2010 to 2011, many retailers' online ordering, shipping and returns processes failed to keep pace, according to management consultancy Kurt Salmon's rankings of 50 retailers.

Looking for a hit list of the hottest new stores outside of the United States? Check out of some of the contenders below. The information comes from the London-based retail consultancy echochamber.com.

Well, the holidays are finally over and the verdict is in: Retailers reported a 3.5% year-over-year sales increase in December — that’s better than I thought we would see — and a 3.3% increase overall for the season. While slightly more than some analysts anticipated (myself included!), it wasn’t the happiest holiday for everyone. Certain sectors (electronics) and brands (Macy’s, Nordstrom) did better than expected, while others (Target and J.C. Penney) did worse.

PLANO, Texas — JCPenney announced that Thomas Engibous will become chairman of its board of directors on Jan. 28.  Engibous was named to the board in 1999 and has served in presiding director and lead independent director roles since 2008.  He will assume the chairman's role from Myron Ullman, III, JCPenney's former chief executive officer, who will step down as executive chairman.

Armonk, N.Y. -- On Tuesday, IBM released its final Benchmark announcement for the 2011 holiday season, detailing a continued strong performance for mobile as well as an overall increase in online spending for December 2011.

According to the report, the U.S. online retail sector delivered 7.5% growth in December 2011 compared to the same period last year. This followed a strong November where both Black Friday 2011 and Cyber Monday 2011 delivered double-digit growth over 2010.

Other key findings of the IBM report included:

The annual consumer electronics extravaganza known as CES gets underway in Las Vegas today, and in conjunction with the show’s kick off Market Research Solutions (MRS) is out with a new report that provides some unconventional insights into the 2011 holiday season and outlook for 2012.

Columbus, Ohio -- DSW Inc. said Tuesday it will open between 35 and 40 stores in 2012, up from an initial plan of 15 to 20 new stores this year.

The footwear and accessories retailer also raised its annual earnings guidance.

“The expansion of our footprint into new and existing markets is a key growth initiative for us,” said Mike MacDonald, president and CEO, DSW Inc.

The majority of the new stores are slated to open in the second half of 2012, according to the company.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. announced Tuesday that Thomas J. Engibous will become chairman of its board of directors, effective Jan. 28.

Engibous was named to the board in 1999 and has served in presiding director and lead independent director roles since 2008. He will assume the chairman's role from Myron E. (Mike) Ullman, III, J.C. Penney’s former CEO, who will step down as executive chairman.

Engibous is the retired chairman of Texas Instruments Inc.