Department Store

Evansville, Ind. – Net income dipped to $10.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from $10.9 million the same period the prior fiscal year. Net sales fared better, climbing 7% to $254.69 million from $235.77 million, ahead of previously issued guidance.

Shoppers at Kmart who are looking for that must-have toy this holiday season will be also able to help raise money to end childhood cancer and other diseases.

Kmart has announced that beginning this Sunday through Dec. 13, the retailer will donate $1 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for every purchase from its annual Fab 15 toy list, up to a maximum donation of $25,000.  

New York – If you were looking for quality call center service from an online retailer during Black Friday or Cyber Monday, then you wanted to shop at L.L. Bean. According to data from analysis firm StellaService, L.L. Bean led in customer service call response time on Black Friday (10 seconds), Cyber Monday (six seconds) and Cyber Weekend (nine seconds).

L.L. Bean actually improved its call center response time compared to its month-to-date average. Other notable findings included:

Healthy e-commerce growth offset a sales slowdown at Ascena Retail Group’s physical stores and enabled the company to achieve its first quarter financial expectations.

Ascena, operator of stores under the Lane Bryant, Cacique, Maurices, Dressbarn, Catherines, Justice and Brothers brands, said same store sales declined 2% during its first quarter ended Oct. 25 as a 16% comp increase online wasn’t enough to offset a 4% decline at physical stores.

Online sales are expected to reach $300 billion in 2014, $335 billion in 2015 and $512 billion by 2020.

According to business forecasting experts at FTI Consulting Inc., online sales will continue to grow at a double-digit rate for the next several years.

Buying tech products was the No. 1 priority on consumers’ shopping lists this past holiday weekend, according to a new survey from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

New York - Despite some of the most promotional activity and extended operating hours the retail industry has ever seen, total spending for the four-day Black Friday weekend came in below projections, down a surprising 11.3% from last year.  According to the National Retail Federation's preliminary figures,  weekend spending dropped to  $50.9 billion from $57.4 billion last year.   

Fremont, Calif. - Men's Wearhouse will open the first-ever Joseph Abboud retail store in midtown Manhattan in spring 2015. The store follows the launch of JosephAbboud.com in early November.