Sales & Marketing

Reston, Va. -- Online holiday spending reached $21.4 billion for first 32 days of the November-December shopping season, up 14% year-over-year, according to comScore.

The most recent week saw three individual days eclipse $1 billion in spending, led by Cyber Monday, which became the heaviest online spending day on record at $1.46 billion. However, growth rates softened considerably in the wake of Cyber Monday and through the weekend.       

Add Sherwin-Williams to the list of retailers celebrating store expansion milestones this year.

Dollar General opened its 10,000th location earlier in the year, followed by the 5,000th AutoZone store and more recently Walgreens opened its 8,000th store. Now, Sherwin-Williams has opened its 3,500 stores in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. The 4,000-sq.-ft. store is the 70th retail location the company has opened this year and its 147th location in California.

New York -- As new CEO Ron Johnson works to transition the “old” J.C. Penney into a new era filled with shop-in-shops, he and his team have devised a way to keep the store looking fresh during the changeover: they use a lot of mannequins.

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Washington, DC — Merchants at CVS, Smart & Final and Meijer have been named recipients of the 2013 Confectionery Leadership Awards by the National Confectioners Association.

New York -- Although consumers are defecting in growing numbers, the majority say they could have been retained, according to survey results released Wednesday by Accenture.

According to the Accenture Global Consumer Survey, in 2012 one-in-five consumers switched companies they buy from -- including retailers, wireless phone and Internet service -- marking a 5% increase in switching over 2011 levels. However, the survey also found that 85% of consumers say the companies could have done something differently to prevent them from switching.  

When Simon Property Group completes its transformational redevelopment of Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, Calif., it will be with a new Nordstrom department store in place.

The iconic 2.3-million-sq.-ft., super-regional center will feature a 138,000-sq.-ft. Nordstrom, which is relocating to Del Amo from South Bay Galleria. Nordstrom is slated to open in 2015.

Redlands, Calif. -- Esri announced Wednesday that the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. has licensed Esri GIS technology and data to provide localized shopping trends data toward supporting the grocer’s commitment to growing its market presence across the Northeast.

Time is running out to submit entries in the 31st annual Chain Store Age Retail Store of the Year Design Competition.