Mass Merchant

North Plainfield, N.J. – A majority of store managers (57.3%) said holiday sales met or exceeded their expectations during the 2013 holiday season. However, according to the post-holiday "Retail Sentiments Survey" from retail real estate services firm Levin Management, mid-December was the busiest time according to 26.9% of store manager respondents, followed by the weekend before Christmas with 24.4%.

As part of its digital strategy, Hudson’s Bay Company has created HBC Digital and appointed Michael Burgess as the newly created group’s president. Burgess will report to the office of the chairman.

HBC Digital will drive the digital commerce and marketing strategy and execution across all channels, in partnership with each of the company’s business units: Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Hudson’s Bay and HBC Outlets.

Hampstead, Md. – Five major investors in Jos. A. Bank — who combined own 17% of the menswear retailer — have told the company’s board they support dialogue with rival menswear retailer Men’s Wearhouse about its proposed $1.6 billion buyout offer, Bloomberg reports. Jos. A. Bank rejected the offer, which is good until March 28, on Jan. 15, and Men’s Wearhouse has publicly called for Jos. A. Bank to reconsider and said it may raise the offer.

Two of Staples' senior most executives were given new responsibilities to bolster the company’s re-invention efforts and competitive posture in a market that has become more challenging with the addition of a newly merged Office Depot and OfficeMax.

Overstock said that it’s still adjusting to changes Google made to its search engine algorithms, which reduced the online retailer’s ranking in some search results during some periods. As a result, the company has had to emphasize other marketing channels, such as sponsored search.

Although sponsored search has generated revenue growth for the company, Overstock said that the move also incurs higher associated marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue than it had to pay prior to Google making its changes.

Minneapolis – Target reportedly said a data breach at an unidentified vendor led to hackers obtaining phony credentials that allowed them to gain access to Target’s systems and steal the information for 40 million credit and debit cards, as well as the personal data of about 70 million consumers. According to the Associated Press, Target did not offer any specific details on who the vendor was or how hackers obtained the credentials.

Minneapolis - Target plans to open a new store in the city of Kahului on the island of Maui in Hawaii, in March 2015. The store will be located as part of the Pu‘unēnē Shopping Center.

This will be the first Target store in Maui.

The opportunity to win a $100 gift card and appear in a television commercial is being used by Meijer to entice parents to upload photos of their kids to the retailer’s Facebook page.

As part of a contest called “Star with Sandy,” Meijer is giving customers until February 6 to submit photos of their kids or themselves when they were young riding a mechanical horse named “Sandy” that can be found at each of Meijer’s 204 stores in five Midwestern states.