Department Store

Rakuten LinkShare announced double-digit year-over-year growth during Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, driven primarily by transactions conducted on mobile devices.

Millburn, N.J. – A 30-year-old man was fatally shot during a carjacking at The Mall at Short Hills, an upscale shopping center in Millburn, N.J. According to the Newark Star-Ledger, the man and his wife were entering their Range Rover on a parking deck at around 9 p.m., on Dec. 15, following an evening of holiday shopping at the mall when two men fired multiple shots.

New York -- Analysis has uncovered a 46% increase in social networking referrals to top 500 retail websites during the most critical week of the year, just one of four key trends identified in a report by Experian Marketing Services.

The 2013 holiday marketing analysis from the holiday shopping season's peak week, the period beginning Thanksgiving and ending on Cyber Monday, cited the following four trends:

Houston – Growth in the Houston retail estate market is expected to follow strong residential real estate growth in 2014. According to a report from NewQuest Properties delivered at the recent BoyarMiller Real Estate Forum, there are about 15 new shopping centers planned or under way in Houston.

In addition, the Houston retail sector is struggling to keep up with growth in the city and experiencing very low vacancy and default rates

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

More than 20 competition categories are featured, including department stores, supermarkets, discounters, restaurants, convenience stores, specialty stores, service, sustainability and pop-up stores. This year, for the first time, the competition also includes the category of in-store digital innovation.

J.C. Penny will eliminate the jcp menswear brand and reduce the assortments in its Joe Fresh, Michael Graves and Martha Stewart lines, Reuters reported.

All four brands were introduced by former CEO Ron Johnson. Penney plans to use the resulting space to emphasize its exclusive private-label brands.

Starting in January, Penney will shrink its Joe Fresh in-store shops and reduce the assortment, the report said, moving the shops away from the front entry to give a more prominent spot to the chain’s own a.n.a and jcp women's wear collections.

Seattle – Nordstrom has closed a previously announced offering of $400 million aggregate principal amount of 5.00% Senior Notes due 2044. The proceeds from the sale of the notes will be used for general corporate purposes, including repayment or retirement of outstanding indebtedness due in 2014, financing of capital expenditures and working capital needs.

The notes were offered in a private placement, solely to qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933.

Ridgefield, Connecticut -- Schimenti Construction Company completed ground up construction of two Target department stores, in Huntington and Staten Island, N.Y. — overcoming unique challenges exacerbated by Super Storm Sandy along the way.

While the hurricane did not cause major damage at either project, it did destroy fencing, displace materials and flood excavations. Both projects experienced fuel shortages, suffered delays in material supply, and required subcontractors to set up carpools to reach the worksites.