Sales & Marketing

New York City -- Brooks Bros. said Thursday that it has implemented a mobile optimized website to create a unique mobile shopping experience for its customers, powered by Digby’s Mobile Software Commerce Platform.

With the new mobile presence, customers can now search, review and buy products from Brooks Bros. directly from their mobile devices.

A new Harris Poll EquiTrend study out this week shows Target, not Walmart, as the Value Retail Brand of the Year. That would be bad enough news for Walmart given the company’s prospects in the United States are closely tied to its reputation for low prices, but this is the second year in a row Target has been named the top Value Retail Brand and the gap with Walmart even widened this year.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday by the National Retail Federation and conducted by BIGresearch found that spending on food, gifts and apparel is expected to increase this Easter.

According to NRF’s 2011 Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, the average consumer is expected to spend $131.04 on everything from candy to clothes -- up from last year’s $118.60, but still not quite meeting pre-recession spending levels.

Total spending on Easter-related merchandise is expected to reach $14.6 billion.

NEW YORK -- Target continues to pull ahead of Walmart in the value retail category, according to a recent Harris poll. The company was named the 2011 Harris Poll Equitrend value retail brand of the year. This is the second consecutive year Target has led the way in the value retail category.

Target lead the way with a ranking of 74.1, while Walmart had a ranking of 70.8. The industry average in the value retail category was 67.3.

San Francisco -- Gap has entered into a new $500 million revolving credit facility with a syndicate of banks led by BofA Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan and Citigroup Global Markets. The new financing matures in 2016 and replaces the company’s existing $500 million revolving credit facility. As part of the same financing agreement, the company also entered into a $400 million five-year term loan.

MEMPHIS — Fred's on Thursday reported a 3% increase in sales for the five weeks ended April 2, reaching $188.8 million.

Comparable-store sales for the month rose 0.7%, versus an increase of 3.6% in the same period last year.

NEW YORK -- Uniqlo, a subsidiary brand of Japan-based Fast Retailing Co., announced that it will open its third New York City location at 31 West 34th Street this fall. The 34th Street store is set to open late in the fall of 2011, following the opening of the company's largest flagshop store on Fifth Avenue in early fall. Uniqlo operates a store in NYC's trendy SoHo neighborhood.

In conjunction with the news of its NYC expansion, Uniqlo announced plans to hire 1,000 retail associates and 100 supervisors from the local tri-state area.

New York City -- Although there were some same-store drops among the discount retail players in March, most beat Wall Street expectations and showed that shoppers are continuing to spend despite a less-than-ideal economic climate.

Costco Wholesale Club was a strong performer in March, beating analysts’ estimates with a 7% rise in same-store sales for the month, excluding fuel. Wall Street expected a 5.5% increase.