eCommerce

A tepid economic climate and government shutdown weren’t enough to prevent Macy’s from producing a 3.5% third quarter same store sale increase and better than expected profits which prompted the department store operator to reiterate it full year financial forecast.

New York -- Office Depot Inc. — the new entity created by the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax — named Roland Smith as CEO, effective immediately. Smith, 59, most recently served as CEO of Delhaize American, a division of Belgian grocery giant Delhaize Group. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of The Wendy's Co., holding company for the Wendy's chain.

Facing an increasingly competitive retail landscape, Canadian retailer Loblaw Cos. posted a slight lift in retail sales but, due to incremental margin investment in the back half of the year, lowered its earnings growth expectations for 2013.

However, company executives are optimistic as the company remains focused on investing in what it refers to as the “customer proposition” and looks forward to its acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart.

New York — Adding to existing locations in Manhattan and Miami Beach, Big Drop, the women’s clothing retailer, has leased a third New York City storefront at 253 Columbus Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The new store has 650 sq. ft. on the ground floor plus a 400-sq.-ft. storage basement.

Winick Realty Group represented Big Drop in the long-term lease transaction. Parkway East Properties LLL, the landlord negotiated on its own behalf.

Big Drop’s other Manhattan stores are in SoHo and the Upper East Side.

Nearly 60% of global respondents said that loyalty programs were available where they shopped, and of those, 84% said they were more likely to visit those retailers, according to a new study by Nielsen.

Washington, D.C. – Eight-in-10 (80.6%) shoppers will purchase gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation’s Gift Card Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Holiday shoppers will spend an average of $163.16 on gift cards, up 4.0% over the $156.86 they spent last year and the highest amount in the survey’s 11-year history. Total spending on gift cards will reach $29.8 billion.

Party City’s sales during the 2012 Halloween season were adversely impacted by an estimated $10 million as a result of Super Storm Sandy, but the specialty retailer bounced back this year with retail sales totaling $395 million, up 10.6% from the same period last year.

The company's retail banners include Party City (which, in turn, includes the company's Canadian locations and recently acquired and rebranded iParty stores), Halloween City, Party City.com and Party Delights.

New York — SL Green Realty Corp. and partner Jeff Sutton have announced the formation of a venture that has acquired a 49-year leasehold interest covering the entire retail portion of 650 Fifth Avenue. The transaction was completed with former U. S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen A. Roberts, the court-appointed federal monitor and interim trustee of the landlord, 650 Fifth Avenue Company.