Sales & Marketing

St. Louis -- Mobile retail navigation service aisle411 announced that Hy-Vee Food Stores has deployed the aisle411 platform. Shoppers can access the in-store shopping platform for Hy-Vee Food Stores within aisle411's iPhone and Android applications, as well as within the Hy-Vee Foods iPhone application.

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General posted another quarter of strong sales and earnings as the company's value proposition still resonates with cash-strapped consumers. The company reported that net income for its third quarter was $171 million, 50 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $128 million, or diluted EPS of 37 cents, in the third of fiscal 2010. The company reported that same-store sales increased 6.3% for the quarter. 

Seattle -- The combined store count of the four national dollar store (or extreme value) chains — Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and 99 Cents Only — has now surpassed that of the three biggest national drugstore chains (Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid), according to a new report  by Colliers International, the third-largest commercial real estate services company in the world.

New York City -- Apple will open a store in Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal on Dec. 9.

The store will have regular hours starting at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday, accommodating commuters. It will open later on weekends.

Delinquency rates in Target’s credit card portfolio are still really good, but after several years of steady improvement, a slight deterioration has become evident the past few months.

In November, 3.3% of accounts were three or more payments past due, the same rate as the prior month but slightly higher than the low of 3% seen during September, August and July. Likewise, accounts with four or more payments past due stood at 2.2% in November, the same as in October, but higher than the 2.1% seen the prior four months.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Shoppers who were out in full force on Black Friday may not walk retail aisles again until just before Christmas — when retailers are expected to heavily discount merchandise — according to the latest America's Research Group/UBS "Christmas Forecast."

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. reported that its fiscal third-quarter net rose 34% to $171.2 million on higher sales. The results beat Wall Street expectations and the discounter boosted its full-year earnings guidance

Revenue for the quarter ended Oct. 28, 2011, increased 12% to $3.6 billion from $3.22 billion, topping Wall Street's estimate. Same-store sales rose 6.3% as customer traffic improved and the average transaction amount rose.

RESTON, Va. — Online retail spending has seen a big jump this holiday season to date, according to a new report from ComScore.

According to the research firm, retail e-commerce spending for the first 32 days of the November-December 2011 holiday season saw a 15% spike to $18.7 billion, compared with the corresponding days last year. The overall spending was driven by billion-dollar spending days, including Cyber Monday, Nov. 28 ($1.25 billion), followed by Nov. 29 ($1.12 billion) and Nov. 30 ($1.03 billion).