Retail

Sears Holdings chairman and CEO Eddie Lampert has pared down his stake in the retailing company, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed that Lampert reduced his stake in Sears Holdings to 48.4%, from a 55.4% stake reported in March. That leaves him with about 51.6 million shares in the company, whose stock was valued at $50.38 per share Wednesday morning on the NASDAQ, down from its opening price of $52.62.

New York -- Express Inc. reported net income of $19.3 million for the quarter ended Nov. 2, an 11% rise over last year’s $17.4 million profit.

Revenue increased 7.4% to $503 million, beating Wall Street’s expected $500 million in sales, and same-store sales increased 5%.

However, the specialty retailer lowered its guidance for the fiscal year as it said Thanksgiving week sales exceeded last year's levels but didn't meet expectations.

Given the origins of Cyber Monday, it should have become irrelevant in the grand scheme of online holiday sales. That’s far from the case though as evidenced by the latest insights from digital measurement firm comScore.

The leading digital measurement firm released data late Tuesday showing Cyber Monday sales increased 18% to more than $1.7 billion to establish a new record for the heaviest online shopping day in history. It was also the second day this season in which online sales surpassed $1 billion which was the case on Black Friday.

Tempe, Ariz. -- Togo's Eateries has opened its first restaurant in Tempe, Ariz., owned by current Togo's franchisees, Monty and Diana Coury, who opened the first Togo's restaurant in Gilbert, Ariz., last year.

"Since opening our first restaurant in Gilbert, we've seen a tremendous amount of support from the community and there is still a huge potential for growth in the market,” said Monty Coury.

New York -- New York & Co. reported a loss of $3.4 million for the quarter ended Nov. 2, compared with a loss of $3.8 million in the same period last year.

Sales fell to $217.6 million, from $219.3 million, and same-store sales increased 3%.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. -- Wet Seal recorded a loss of $14.9 million for the fiscal 2013 third quarter, essentially flat with last year.

Sales dipped to $127.7 million from $135.5 million, and same-store edged up 0.8%, including an increase of 1.7% at Wet Seal and a decrease of 6.7% at Arden B.

Although sales at Express during Thanksgiving week exceeded last year's, results did not meet the company’s expectations and it’s bracing itself for a tough holiday shopping season.

The specialty retail apparel chain operating approximately 630 stores reported net sales of $503 million, an increase of 7% from $468.5 million in the third quarter of 2012. Comparable sales increased 5% versus a decline of 5% in last year's third quarter. E-commerce sales increased 29% to $71.2 million this quarter, above last year's third quarter increase of 21%.

Atlanta -- Direct Wines, the world’s largest online wine retailer, has successfully deployed advanced, end-to-end planning, promotion, forecasting and fulfillment solutions from Predictix, a provider of cloud-based, predictive analytics solutions for retailers. The applications went live last month and will support the current operation and future growth strategy of Direct Wines' international, omni-channel business.