Sales & Marketing

New York — Finish Line Inc.'s third-quarter earnings rose 35% amid rising digital sales and higher demand for running and basketball gear. The chain has reported nine consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth, including a 7.7% jump in the latest period.

For the quarter ended Nov. 26, the company posted a profit of $5.5 million, up from $4.1 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 8.1% to $282 million. Digital sales jumped 61%, following similar increases in the first two quarters of the year.

Last fall, Los Angeles-based mega mall owner Westfield Group announced it had partnered with tvsdesign on an innovative Web-based solution that would transform the art of common-area interior design into a more consistent and reliable science.

NEW YORK — U.S. consumer confidence rose more than forecast in December, to a six-month high, amid declining unemployment and lower gas prices.  The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index climbed to 69.9 from 64.1 at the end of November.   The metric averaged 89 points in the five years leading up to the recession.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Heineken has announced the appointment of Stacey Tank as SVP corporate relations. She will begin her role on Jan. 3, 2012.

Tank joins Heineken USA from General Electric, where she most recently led corporate relations for “Healthymagination” – GE’s $6 billion commitment to bringing better health to more people. Additionally she led the launch of a $1 billion global cancer campaign in September 2011, which included a $100 million open innovation challenge around breast cancer diagnostics.

Westboro, Mass. — Micros-Retail, a division of Micros Systems, announced that Barneys has launched the Micros-Retail miStore mobile point-of-sale solution in Barneys’ flagship New York store, starting this holiday season. The retailer is a long-time customer of Micros-Retail for point of sale, loss prevention and order management solutions.

Mall barricade systems have evolved greatly in recent years, in terms of both the way they are engineered to their graphic applications. Perhaps the biggest change has been the transition from drywall barricades to modular ones. Chain Store Age spoke with Bob Putnam, president of Boston Barricade Co., Vero Beach, Fla., about the latest trends in barricades. 

How have mall barricades evolved over the years?

NEW YORK — Best Buy has informed some customers that it will not be able to fill their online orders, just days before Christmas, according to the Associated Press.

The chain said late Wednesday that "overwhelming” demand for some products from Bestbuy.com has led to a problem redeeming online orders made in November and December, the report said.

CHATSWORTH, Calif. — Rite Aid is planning to roll out 3-D holographic display kiosks in its stores next year, according to the kiosks' manufacturer.

In a letter to shareholders, Provision Interactive Technologies president and CEO Curt Thornton wrote that it would place its 3-D Reward Centers in Rite Aid stores, starting with 200 locations and, according to the agreement between the two companies, eventually installing the kiosks in up to 4,800 stores. Rite Aid currently has 4,679 stores.