Mass Merchant

RESTON, Va. — Retailers who promoted their online presence as a way to avoid the crowds this past weekend were rewarded for their efforts with record sales on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday.

New York City -- Family Dollar hasn’t faced much community opposition during an ambitious decade-long expansion program that has left the company with roughly 7,000 stores in 45 states. However, there is a first time for everything and residents in the North Carolina community of Carrboro are pushing back against the retailer’s efforts to open a new store.

New York City -- Five state leaders in India made clear over the weekend their unwillingness to let foreign retailers set up shop in the country, the Associated Press reported.

Parliament adjourned Monday in an uproar over the issue and Communist Party-controlled trade unions have pledged to strike Thursday, the report said, and some politicians even threatened to burn down foreign stores that open under the new rules.

All those flat screens televisions sticking out of shopping carts in the aisles of Target stores early Friday morning were no optical illusion.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target will donate $5 million to local schools nationwide as part of the company's commitment to give $1 billion for education by the end of 2015.

New York City -- E-commerce spending jumped 26% on Black Friday, according to comscore.

Black Friday web sales totaled $816 million, up from $648 million last year, comScore reported.

“With brick-and-mortar retail also reporting strong gains on Black Friday, it's clear that the heavy promotional activity had a positive impact on both channels," said Gian Fulgoni, chairman, comScore.

Beaumont, Texas -- Conn’s announced that it completed a $20 million expansion, to $450 million, of its revolving credit facility, which expires in July 2015. The company received a commitment from one new lender and received an increased commitment from one of the existing participants in the bank group.

Casey Carl is Target’s new president of multichannel with responsibility for the retailer’s website. In his new role, Carl will oversee Target’s digital platforms including mobile, social and Target.com and also will retain his prior responsibilities as SVP merchandising for entertainment, toys, sporting goods and electronics.