eCommerce

MINNEAPOLIS — Winmark Corporation, franchisor of four value-retail store concepts, is developing a new concept focused on reselling women's apparel and accessories.

Winmark Corporation operates 968 franchises under the Plato's Closet, Play It Again Sports, Once Upon A Child and Music Go Round brands, all of which buy, sell, trade and consign gently used merchandise. The franchisor intends to market the new retail concept to savvy and frugal shoppers.

New York -- Total holiday retail sales increased 3% to $579.8 billion, below the National Retail Federation s projected forecast of 4.1%. Non-store holiday sales grew 11%, below the 12% growth forecast by Shop.org. (The NRF sales figures exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants.)

“For over six months, we’ve been saying that the fiscal cliff and economic uncertainty could impact holiday sales. As the number shows, these issues had a visible impact on consumer spending this holiday season,” said Matthew Shay, CEO, NRF.

NEW YORK — Despite caution among consumers, retailers wrapped up 2012 with a healthy holiday shopping season, according to a new report by a retailing trade group.

The National Retail Federation said that holiday retail sales increased 3% over the year before, to $579.8 billion. December retail sales increased 0.8% seasonally adjusted from November and 2.1% unadjusted year over year. Nevertheless, the 3% increase was still below the NRF's projected 4.1% growth. Meanwhile, nonstore holiday sales grew 11.1%.

Paris -- French luxury group PPR’s Tuesday announcement that it has acquired 51% of British fashion brand Christopher Kane means that the luxury designer will soon have branded boutiques. The first is slated to open in London as early as 2014.

According to a report by Reuters, the deal is part of PPR's strategy to add to its luxury portfolio with small brands that have growth potential.

"We think it can become a sizeable business," Alexis Babeau, managing director of PPR's luxury division, told Reuters on Tuesday.

New York -- Shoppers diversifying the way they shop for and acquire goods, becoming increasingly open to buying both online and in-store depending on their needs at time of purchase. While more than 80% of shoppers chose the store to make their last non-grocery purchase, only half are committed to returning there next time they buy. These are among the findings of a new IBM study of global consumers.

Home Depot and Dollar General are among a total of 23 national brand name retailers that now accept PayPal as payment in their physical stores.

PayPal announced plans to sign up a total of 20 large national retailers by the end of 2012. They closed the year with 23, which means shoppers will have the option of paying for purchases with PayPal at 18,000 physical stores around the United States.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer has appointed J. K. Symancyk as president, just one year after he was named COO for the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer.

Meijer, a pioneer of the one-stop shopping concept, operates 199 supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.

Atlanta – Predictix announced that Crate and Barrel is implementing a broad suite of planning solutions from Predictix, including merchandise financial planning/merchandise financial management, assortment planning and item planning.

The Predictix solutions are being deployed across all Crate and Barrel brands — Crate and Barrel, CB2 and The Land of Nod — and will go live this quarter as part of a strategic plan to optimize the retailer's planning processes.