Retail

99 Cents Only has spent the last six months upgrading its systems and procedures related to accounting for merchandise inventories. In the meantime, and ahead of its second quarter results for fiscal 2014, the company has begun taking physical inventories at its stores on a SKU-level basis for the first time.

The new IT system, built on SAP, will allow the company to track inventory in real time at each retail store on a perpetual basis by SKU. Implementation is underway and the company expects to be fully operational by the end of fiscal 2015.

New York – The average consumer will spend $825 on holiday purchases in 2013, a 5% drop from last year. According to the new Brand Keys annual holiday survey, only 19% of shoppers surveyed indicated that they started shopping for the holidays in October, 5% fewer than 2012.

Conshocken, Pa. – Ikea plans to nearly double the solar array completed in April atop its Perryville, Md., distribution center, the state’s largest such solar energy system. Installation of the new panels will begin in November with completion expected in 2014.

Whole Food’s said it gained market share during the third quarter, but the 5.9% same store sales increase the company reported fell short of expectations and the company tempered its outlook for 2014.
 

Toronto – Canadian Tire reported strong financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2013. These include an 11% increase in net income, to $139 million from about $128 million.

In addition, revenue grew to $2.83 billion from $2.7 billion. Consolidated same-store sales grew 3.1% across the Canadian Tire, FGL Sports, and Mark’s banners.

San Jose, Calif. -- Despite the shortest shopping season since 2002, online sales look strong for the upcoming holidays. A new survey from Adobe predicts record growth for online sales on Thanksgiving with $1.1 billion and Black Friday with $1.6 billion, increases of 21% and 17%, respectively.

J.C. Penney scored a major victory during October with same stores sales up 0.9%. That may not seem like much, but for a company that has been written off by many the meager increase offers an encouraging tailwind heading into what retailer’s nationwide expect to be a challenging holiday season.

Beverly Hills, Calif. — Quantum Capital Partners, a real estate finance and advisory firm, has arranged two new loans to refinance two retail properties in Las Vegas for a private investor.

A $1.04 million loan will refinance the 12,000-sq.-ft. El Mercado, an L-shaped retail center in east Las Vegas, and a $1.19 million loan will refinance Wigwam, a 10,300-sq.-ft. strip center about four miles south of the Las Vegas Strip.