Sales & Marketing

Framingham, Mass. -- A survey by Staples of 1,000 American shoppers revealed that the majority tend to wait until the last minute to mail holiday gifts.

The Staples Winter Holiday Survey found that two-thirds of those polled confessed to sending holiday cards out too late and nearly half admitted to shipping gifts at the last minute.

Washington, D.C. --  Retailers will lose an estimated $8.9 billion to return fraud this year, and $2.9 billion during the holiday season alone, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2012 Return Fraud Survey. Overall, retailers estimate 4.6% of holiday returns are fraudulent.

Broomfield, Colo. -- Mrs. Fields Cookies said Tuesday it will open a new location at Arista Place, located in Broomfield, Colo.

The flagship store, which is slated to launch construction this month, will feature a new store design and branding. It is expected to open in March 2013.

The new design, said the company, will incorporate more soft seating and a retail area for ordering cookie gifts online. The corporate location will also serve as the company’s training university for new franchisees.

Stamford, Conn. -- Pitney Bowes Inc. said that leathergoods retailer Dooney & Bourke will use technology and shipping services from Pitney Bowes to help expand the global online reach of its handbags and accessories.

Dooney & Bourke will use Pitney Bowes’s e-commerce software and international shipping services to help offer a seamless and convenient cross-border purchasing and shipping experience to online shoppers to destinations in up to 90 countries worldwide.
 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Former Belk executive Carl Scibetta has been named the new EVP and GMM at Shoe Carnival. Scibetta will report to Cliff Sifford, the former GMM, who was recently appointed president and CEO of the company.

STAMFORD, Conn. — Pitney Bowes has appointed Marc B. Lautenbach as its new president and CEO, effective immediately. Lautenbach succeeds Murray D. Martin, who is retiring as the company’s chairman, president and CEO and has resigned from the company’s board of directors.

Martin will continue to work with Lautenbach, who has nearly 30 years of experience in the technology and business services industry in senior leadership positions at IBM, on an effective transition.

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- HSN announced Tuesday it has appointed Karen Etzkorn to the newly created position of chief information officer of HSNi, effective Jan. 3.

Etzkorn is charged with overseeing all aspects of information technology for HSNi's two operating segments -- HSN and Cornerstone.

Etzkorn was most recently senior VP and CIO for Ascena Retail. Prior to that, she was senior VP and CIO at Tween Brands and has also held senior technology roles at The Home Depot, Williams-Sonoma, Gap and Limited.

Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots Inc. reported Tuesday a loss of $6 million for the third quarter, compared with net income of $4.2 million in the year-ago period. Results, however, topped analysts’ earnings expectations.

Revenue slipped 0.4% to $1.13 billion, missing Wall Street’s forecast of $1.3 billion.

The retailer also announced that its CEO Steven Fishman will retire as chairman and CEO after 40 years in retail. Big Lots has launched a search for his successor; Fishman will stay until a new CEO is appointed.