Sales & Marketing

New York City -- The nation’s first lady did some shopping Thursday at a Target store in Alexandria, Va.

Mrs. Obama was casually dressed and virtually incognito with a baseball cap and sunglasses. She spent about 30 to 40 minutes in the store, according to reports, and was accompanied by an assistant.
 

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Friday by the Commerce Dept. showed that consumer spending in the U.S. slowed in August, impacted by falling incomes and sporadic hiring.

Commerce Dept. figures showed that purchases edged up 0.2% after a 0.7% increase in July. However, a 0.2% increase in prices wiped out the slight spending gain. Incomes dipped 0.1%, the first decline since October 2009.

Washington, D.C. -- Retailers and their customers will save billions of dollars when new Federal Reserve regulations cutting debit-card swipe fees roughly in half take effect this weekend, the National Retail Federation said.

Columbus, Ohio -- Information sharing,  expense benchmarking, innovative technologies, energy management systems, disaster preparedness and international facility management were ranked as the most important agenda topics by attendees at FacilitySource’s 5th annual Leadership Symposium, on Sept. 19-22.

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — BJ's Wholesale Club officially is owned by Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners, just a few weeks after the retailer's stockholders approved the agreement.

BJ's was required in an all-cash transaction valued at $51.25 per share, or $2.8 billion.

BJ’s common stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange prior to the opening of business on Monday, Oct. 3, the companies said.

The deal was announced in late June after months of speculation. BJ’s board of directors unanimously approved the agreement.

So much for the weak economy. A record number of people, 161 million to be precise, are expected to celebrate Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federations annual survey.

NRF has been conducting the consumer intentions and actions survey for 10 years and the outlook for this year is the brightest ever with average spending per person expected to increase to $72.31 from $66.28 last year.

Dallas -- Neiman Marcus said Thursday it has launched its first-ever foursquare challenge to take place on Oct. 1 in conjunction with the department store retailer’s Shoe & Handbag Event.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid same-store sales increased by 1.3% in September, compared with September 2010, the company said Thursday.

During the four-week period that ended Saturday, front-end same-store sales were down 0.5%, though pharmacy same-store sales increased 2.1%, including a 143-basis point negative effect from new generic introductions.

The softer sales for the month were expected by the company's management and analysts alike, with analyst John Heinbockel of Guggenheim Partners attributing them to Hurricane Irene and the slow start of the allergy season.