Discount Store

New York City -- The National Retail Federation on Friday released its 2010 list that annually ranks the 10 stores with the best customer service.

The list is based on surveys of more than 9,000 shoppers, all asked the following question: “Thinking of all the different retail formats (store, catalog, Internet or home shopping), which retailer delivers the best customer service?”

In total, the NRF ranked 46 stores, and will release the complete list in January.

Columbus, Ohio -- Kantar Retail said Thursday that same-store sales got a big lift to 6% growth in November from a strong promotional environment, as well as from an easy year-ago comparison period and shifting shopper spending intentions.

The sales-weighted composite for the 30 retailers reporting -- most of them apparel retailers -- was better than the 1.7% same-store sales gain last month and the 0.9% gain in November of 2009 for the same measure. (The calculations don’t include Walmart, which stopped reporting monthly results in April 2009.)

New York City -- Department store retailers enjoyed a strong November, with nearly all the leading chains topping analysts  projections.

Macy’s reported Thursday that its same-store sales rose 6.1% in November, boosted by a strong Black Friday weekend. The company raised its earnings guidance.

New York City -- The nation’s discount retailers and warehouse club operators posted strong sales in November, beating analysts’ expectations. The results were fueled by promotions and cold weather in some parts of the country, as well as strong Black Friday traffic.

Target Corp. said Thursday more shoppers came to its stores in November and spent more than a year earlier, helping to fuel a 5.5% rise in same-store sales during the month. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected a 3.7% gain.

New York City -- Retailers nearly across the board reported a strong start to the holiday season as their November sales were enhanced by aggressive discounting that started early in the month. Same-store sales rose 6% in November,  above the estimated growth of 3.6% and the year-ago gain of 0.6%, according to 27 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters. 

By Cynthia Cohen, twitter.com/StrategyDiva