Sales & Marketing

New York -- Sixty percent of Americans plan to shop in stores or online over the Thanksgiving weekend – up from 51% in 2011, according to Deloitte’s pre-Thanksgiving survey.

Among these weekend shoppers, 63% plan to shop in stores on Black Friday and 23% plan to shop in stores on Thanksgiving day (up from 17% in last year’s survey). Shoppers expect spend an average of $286 over the holiday weekend – up 28% from the 2011 survey

The survey also indicates:

New York -- Private equity firm Apax Partners said Friday that it will acquire Cole Haan from Nike for $570 million in cash.  

Cole Haan sells through 108 domestic stores, 68 international stores, online and through department stores. It has been a part of Nike since 1988.

To effect the acquisition, Apax is partnering with Jack Boys, who led the revitalization of Converse.

The transaction is expected to close in early 2013.

For a split second after the presidential election the victor and the vanquished struck a conciliatory tone on finding the balance between raising taxes and cutting spending. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. president and CEO Mike Duke wants the issue resolved as soon as possible.

Duke was among a group of business leaders in Washington earlier this week meeting with President Barack Obama and following the meeting Walmart released a statement expressing his views on the issue.

Roswell, Ga. -- PGA Tour Superstore announced it will open its first Northeast location, in Paramus, N.J., on Nov. 21. The 57,000 sq.-ft. store will offer a selection of golf merchandise and apparel.

New York -- Foot Locker Inc. reported Friday that net income for the quarter ended Oct. 27 surged 61% to $106 million, compared with $66 million in the year-ago period. The recent quarter's results, which surpassed Wall Street expectations, included a $9 million tax benefit stemming from the settlement of a foreign tax audit.
 
Revenue rose 9.3% to $1.52 billion from $1.39 billion, beating analysts’ expected $1.47 billion in revenue. Same-store sales climbed 10.2%.

ROSWELL, Ga. — Dick’s Sporting Goods is looking at increased competition in its core Northeastern markets as PGA Tour Superstore prepares for the grand opening of its first retail location in Paramus, N.J.

The 57,000-sq.-ft. store will open its doors Wed., Nov. 21, and offer a wide selection of golf merchandise and apparel, including more than 15,000 golf clubs and 10,000 pairs of shoes for every level of golf and tennis enthusiast.

Austin, Texas -- Online coupon site RetailMeNot.com on Friday released its second annual Black Friday edition of the Shoppers Trend Report, which showed that 71% of holiday shoppers plan to spend “about the same” or “more” than they spent last year versus 63% who said "about the same" or "more" in 2011.

NEW YORK — Avon Products has appointed Patricia Perez-Ayala as SVP, CMO and global brand and category president, effective Dec. 3. In her new role, Perez-Ayala will report to Sheri McCoy, Avon's CEO, and will join the company's executive committee.