Mass Merchant

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Customers who can't wait to get their hands on the latest "Call of Duty" video game are in for some good news courtesy of Walmart. The retailer announced that on Nov. 7 in more than 2,700 stores customers can play "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3." The event begins at 8 p.m. (local time) and will include tournaments and the chance to win double experience points with every purchase of specially-marked 20-packs of Mountain Dew, exclusively at Walmart.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- The Kronos Retail Labor Index edged down to 3.8% in October 2011, following an upwardly revised 4.2% for September, which was the first reading above 4% since October 2008. Even with the small decline in October, the Retail labor Index remains well above the series low of 2.8% in January 2011.

New York City -- Consumer spending slowed in October, sending a note of caution as retailers head into the holiday season. Eleven retailers missed expectations for same-store sales, while three chains beat estimates, according to a preliminary tally by Thomson Reuters. However, while the October results were not as promising as some retailers had hoped, sales for the most part rose and most chains reported results that were only slightly off from analysts’ estimates. Some analysts blamed Wall Street for underestimating how much caution is still out there.

Purchase, N.Y. -- October’s unusual weather patterns — an unseasonably warm first half of the month and a snow storm on the last Saturday of the month — may have pushed some spending into November, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail and service sales across all payment forms including cash and check.

NEW YORK — With fewer retailers following in Walmart's footsteps in not disclosing monthly sales, it has become harder to gauge the overall health of the industry. Still, enough of them reported this monht to show that consumer spending slowed in October, sending a note of caution as retailers head into the holiday season. Eleven retailers missed expectations for same-store sales, while three chains beat estimates, according to a preliminary tally by Thomson Reuters.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — With BJ's no longer reporting monthly sales, Costco is the only warehouse-club retailer left to give some insight regarding how Sam's Club performs on monthly basis. With Costco delivering positive comps for the month, it is safe to assume that Sam's and BJ's have garnered their fair share of the market.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco Wholesale reported net sales of $7.01 billion for the month of October, the four weeks ended Oct. 30, 2011, an increase of 11% from $6.3 billion during the similar four-week period last year.

Total comparable-club sales for the month were up 9%. U.S. comparable-store sales were up 9%, while international comps rose 8%. Excluding the impact of fuel and foreign currencies total comps rose 7%, U.S. comps rose 6% and international comps rose 9%.

New York City -- Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a 9% increase in same-store sales in October, helped by strong performances in the United States and abroad, just short of the 9.2% increase predicted by analysts.

Costco’s same-store U.S. sales rose 9% and were up 8% overseas. Taking out inflation in gas prices and a slightly negative impact from foreign currencies, the metric increased 6% in the United State and 9% internationally.