Sales & Marketing

MasterCard Spending Pulse reported that U.S. electronics retailers hit the jackpot with their early Thanksgiving openings, recording triple-digit growth on Thanksgiving Day this year compared to 2012.

According to the November report, which tracks retail sales across all forms of payment, including credit cards, cash and check, sales for the electronics category shot up on Thanksgiving; however, sales in that sector declined slightly on Black Friday.

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.

Beauty brand Julep is celebrating the holidays with its first popup store in Manhattan — but with a twist.

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.

Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo USA division named a new CEO with a familiar name to lead what is expected to be an accelerated growth plan.

Uniqlo elevated existing COO Lawrence Meyer to the role of CEO to lead is 17 unit U.S. operation roughly one year after he joined the company. In his new role, Meyer will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Uniqlo brand and be responsible for the ongoing development of the company retail footprint in the U.S.

Plano, Texas  -- J. C. Penney said that its same-store sales rose 10.1% for the fiscal month ending November 30, 2013.  The retailer's stock was up 4.6% to $10.57 percent in after-hours trading Tuesday.

Armonk, N.Y. - Shoppers made Cyber Monday 2013 the biggest online shopping day in history with a 20.6% increase in online sales. The latest cloud-based analytics findings from IBM show that mobile sales led the way, exceeding 17% of total online sales, an increase of 55.4% year-over-year.

Cyber Monday also capped what IBM data indicates is the highest five-day online sales period on record from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, which grew 16.5% from the same period in 2012.

Wired, a Conde Nast brand, is getting ready to open a popup store for the ninth consecutive year in New York City, featuring electronics, rare objects d' art, apparel and accessories, musical instruments, kitchen gadgets and adventure gear.

Located in the heart of the Meatpacking District, at 353 West 14th St., the store will be open from noon-8 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays, from Dec. 4 through Dec. 22. This year’s popup store is sponsored by Citi, the 2014 Corvette Stingray and Delta Air Lines.