Department Store

The National Retail Federation showed its Christmas spirit on Thursday by releasing a holiday forecast that calls for sales to increase 3.9% to $602 billion and assumes the President and Congress will be able to resolve their differences.

NRF’s forecasted growth rate of 3.9% is a solid figure and well above the 3.3% average growth rate of the past 10 years and ahead of last year’s 3.5% gain. In addition, the trade group’s Shop.org digital division forecast that online sales would grow between 13% and 15% to roughly $82 billion.

Mixed-use development works for trade areas where demand matches each use

Different developers look at mixed-use in different ways. One developer will look for trade areas that provide solid demand for retail, residential, office and perhaps other uses. The goal is to create developments where no single use dominates the others.

Still other developers gauge the demand for various uses and adjust the use offerings to match demand. In such cases, one use may dominate the center.

The Trademark approach to demand

New York – Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th has launched an e-commerce site that gives shoppers visibility and accessibility to shop for items that may have limited distribution and only in select stores nationwide.
    
In addition, the e-commerce site will offer customers access to Salon Z, a plus-size women’s program not available in all stores.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. is set to launch Disney branded shops inside 565 Penney stores on Oct.4. The shops will offer toys, collectibles and children's apparel designed for Penney and showcasing various Disney characters, including those from Toy Story and Monsters University and Disney Junior shows.

U.S. retailers increasingly tapping into global markets via online efforts

Demand for American brands around the globe is getting bigger every day. There are currently more than 2 billion prospective global customers, and about 25% of the traffic from U.S. retail sites comes from international shoppers, according to industry experts, with Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Russia and Hong Kong currently the top international markets for U.S. retailers.

Local cues and digital influences on the rise

Signage continues to gain importance in overall branding efforts, as retailers seek to differentiate themselves with signs tailored to local markets and to create department ambiance. And increasingly, there is a lot more participation by marketing and advertising departments in developing signage programs.

“It is not just the construction or store planning departments anymore,” said Tony Camilletti, executive VP, D/Fab, Madison Heights, Mich.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. - Sears Holdings Corp. has borrowed $1 billion under a new a senior secured term loan facility under an existing credit agreement from April 2011. The existing credit agreement continues to provide for a $3.275 billion asset-based revolving credit facility.

Last month, Sears said it would obtain the loan to help reduce how much money it borrowed under the existing credit facility. The new loan is due June 2018.

Seattle -- HauteLook, an online flash sale retailer owned by Nordstrom, announced that founder Adam Bernhard is stepping out of the CEO role and day-to-day operations of the business, but will remain with HauteLook in an advisory capacity. Terry Boyle will remain as president, reporting to Jamie Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom Direct. With HauteLook fully operating as a division of Nordstrom, no CEO will be appointed in Bernhard's place