eCommerce

New York City -- Although online sales grew 15% from 2010 to 2011, many retailers' online ordering, shipping and returns processes failed to keep pace, according to management consultancy Kurt Salmon's rankings of 50 retailers.

New York City -- Shopping centers in the United States had their first net gain in occupied space in four years amid a rise in consumer confidence and job growth, according real estate research firm Reis Inc., Bloomberg reported.

Neighborhood and community shopping shoppers saw a net increase of 3.18 million sq. ft. in the fourth quarter, the most since 10.1 million sq. ft. in the last three months of 2007.

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters announced Tuesday that Glen T. Senk has resigned as CEO, effective Jan. 9. The company named chairman and co-founder Richard Hayne as his replacement.

Senk, 55, joined the company in 1994 as president of Anthropologie. He became a director in 2004 and CEO in 2007. Senk indicated that he plans to pursue another opportunity, but that he will remain with the company for a period of time to assist management with the transition. He has also resigned from the board of directors.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. announced Tuesday that Thomas J. Engibous will become chairman of its board of directors, effective Jan. 28.

Engibous was named to the board in 1999 and has served in presiding director and lead independent director roles since 2008. He will assume the chairman's role from Myron E. (Mike) Ullman, III, J.C. Penney’s former CEO, who will step down as executive chairman.

Engibous is the retired chairman of Texas Instruments Inc.

Armonk, N.Y. -- On Tuesday, IBM released its final Benchmark announcement for the 2011 holiday season, detailing a continued strong performance for mobile as well as an overall increase in online spending for December 2011.

According to the report, the U.S. online retail sector delivered 7.5% growth in December 2011 compared to the same period last year. This followed a strong November where both Black Friday 2011 and Cyber Monday 2011 delivered double-digit growth over 2010.

Other key findings of the IBM report included:

New York City -- Tiffany & Co. reported Tuesday that sales growth weakened in the United States and Europe during the holiday season, although other regions experienced significant gains.

The company cut its yearly earnings guidance. 

Well, the holidays are finally over and the verdict is in: Retailers reported a 3.5% year-over-year sales increase in December — that’s better than I thought we would see — and a 3.3% increase overall for the season. While slightly more than some analysts anticipated (myself included!), it wasn’t the happiest holiday for everyone. Certain sectors (electronics) and brands (Macy’s, Nordstrom) did better than expected, while others (Target and J.C. Penney) did worse.

Minneapolis -- Christopher & Banks Corp. announced that its board of directors approved a change in the company’s fiscal year-end to the Saturday nearest to the end of January, rather than the Saturday nearest to the end of February.

The retailer said the change, which is effective for the company’s current fiscal year, will provide certain benefits, including aligning its reporting periods to be more consistent with that of other specialty retail companies.