Department Store

Chicago - Boosted by a very weak comparison period, ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE) reported that total GAFO retail sales for the last Saturday before Christmas (12/18), or Super Saturday, increased a sharp 15.1% compared with last year, while the company’s retail traffic index (SRTI) reported a similar 10.1% total U.S. foot traffic uptick for the same period.

With only a few days to go until Christmas retailers are already positioning themselves for post holiday success by touting promotions to capitalize on gift card redemptions. Target and JCPenney this week announced special incentives that begin the day after Christmas when both plan to open at 7 a.m.

New York - Fifteen percent or 23.1 million consumers (16 years of age or older) plan to shop on Christmas Eve (December 24), according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs (ICSC-GS) holiday consumer tracking survey.

Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears.com accounted for 6.21% of multichannel Web traffic for the week ended Nov. 27, which included Thanksgiving and Black Friday, according to data released from Experian Hitwise.

The data showed Sears.com received 21.1 million visits for the week, just under JCPenney at 21.5 million visits, or 6.34% of total Web traffic. Walmart topped the list at 25.88% of all Web traffic, or 88 million visits, with Target ranking second at 15.26%, or 51.8 million visits.

The small ad was a little lost on the bottom of page 36 of Target’s 40-page holiday circular this week, but there among an offering of floor care products was a reminder of a Facebook initiative that could be worth as much as $50,000 to the Kids In Need Foundation. The ad encouraged readers to visit Facebook.com/TargetGiveJoy to create a wish list of up to five items for a chance to win a gift card equal in value to those items with Kids In Need receiving a $5 donation for each wish list submitted up to a total of $50,000. The program ends at midnight on Christmas.

Fortune has released its list of the top 10 Fortune 500 stock performers for 2010, and Dillard's is the lone retailer on the list.

Ranked at number 10, Dillard's, which is ranked at 348 on the Fortune 500, posted a year-to-date stock performance improvement of 97% and a market cap of $2.1 billion.

According to the report, Dillard's sold more merchandise this November than last year, with sales totaling almost $470 million for the month. That marked a 7% increase over last year.

Atlanta - U.S. regulators have sued a former sales executive at Carter’s Inc., claiming that he caused the company to misstate earnings by hiding the cost of discounts given to a retailer. 

According to a Monday report by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Joseph Elles induced Kohl’s Corp. to boost purchases from Carter’s from 2004 to March 2009 by granting unauthorized discounts that he didn’t disclose.

PLANO, Texas - JCPenney announced that it will opens its doors at 7 a.m. on Dec. 26 for its biggest After Christmas Sale ever. Customers visiting JCPenney the day after Christmas can find extended store hours, free shipping offers on jcp.com and over 100 “Doorbuster” specials from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., highlighted in JCPenney’s expanded 48-page sales circular, the company reported.