Mass Merchant

By Stephen Springham, senior retail analyst at Planet Retail

Three quarters of results and a hat-trick of disappointments — Walmart U.S. again failed to achieve its guidance of flat comps in Q3, reporting a decline of 0.3%. This was not entirely unexpected as an already fragile consumer environment has not been helped by the government shutdown.

Gordon Brothers Group, a global advisory, restructuring and investment firm specializing in the retail, consumer products, industrial and real estate sectors, has named Robert E. Grosskopf and Richard P. Edwards as co-presidents of the retail division.

They will jointly assume responsibility for the division's growth strategy while overseeing all client engagements and daily operations.

Cincinnati — Saks Fifth Avenue has signed a letter of intent to relocate its downtown Cincinnati store to The Kenwood Collection, which Phillips Edison & Co. is transforming from a regional destination to a super-regional destination that will draw shoppers from three states.

According to the letter of intent, Saks will lease 80,000 sq. ft. of retail space over two levels of a building that fronts I-71. Plans call for the store to open in the spring of 2016.

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.

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 — 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.

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.

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.