Department Store

New York — Due to the holiday rush and related closings, sister publication Chain Store Age has extended the deadline for its 32nd annual Retail Store of the Year Design Competition until Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014.

San Francisco — In-store holiday sales during December 2013 are expected to come out ahead of in-store holiday sales during the same month in the previous year. Retail analytics provider Euclid analyzed nearly 25 million domestic shopping sessions during December, revealing that shopper traffic and window conversion improved as heavy promotions kept holiday shoppers coming.

This holiday season was one of the first real opportunities for retailers to flex their omnichannel muscle. A shorter-than-usual holiday season, combined with ongoing economic uncertainty, led consumers to turn to a variety of shopping channels in their search for the most efficient and cost-effective way to round out their gifting lists. Likewise, many shoppers also demonstrated a desire to return products across these various channels. But were retailers ready?

New York — Target Corp. said a “small percentage” of its gift cards were not properly activated and, as a result, are not working properly when customers try to redeem them.

“We are aware that some Target gift cards were not fully activated and apologize for the inconvenience,” Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in an e-mail, Reuters reported.

Alfred Marshall, a founder of the Marshalls department store chain in the mid-1950s, died Saturday, Dec. 28 in Boca Raton, Fla., at the age of 94, according to a New York Times report.

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New York -- Macy’s and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia have reached a confidential settlement in their ongoing legal dispute over whether Martha Stewart breached a contract by selling certain goods at J.C. Penney Co.

Martha Stewart and Macy’s both said the terms of the settlement aren’t material to their businesses. In a separate statement, Macy's said that the settlement did not affect its outstanding claim against Penney.

Private equity firm Bain Capital concluded 2013 with the acquisition of Bob’s Discount Furniture, an operator of 47 stores in the Northeast that is intent on expansion.

Bain acquired a majority ownership position in the Manchester, Conn.-based company and said senior management will continue to own a significant stake. Current CEO Ted English will continue to lead the company whose first order of business for 2014 is entry into the Philadelphia market.

Armonk, N.Y. -- Overall fourth quarter online sales were up 10.3% year-over-year. The IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark indicates that soaring mobile traffic and sales were one of several key drivers.

Mobile traffic accounted for nearly 35% of all online traffic, up 40% compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. Mobile sales also remained strong, reaching 16.6% of all online sales, up more than 46% from the same period last year.