Sales & Marketing

Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears.com accounted for 6.21% of multichannel Web traffic for the week ended Nov. 27, which included Thanksgiving and Black Friday, according to data released from Experian Hitwise.

The data showed Sears.com received 21.1 million visits for the week, just under JCPenney at 21.5 million visits, or 6.34% of total Web traffic. Walmart topped the list at 25.88% of all Web traffic, or 88 million visits, with Target ranking second at 15.26%, or 51.8 million visits.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Interactive multichannel retailer HSN announced that the company's CEO, Mindy Grossman, will present at the Citi 21st Annual Global Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference in Phoenix on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 at 9:50 a.m. Mountain Time.

A live broadcast of the session will be available in the investor relations section of the company's website at www.hsni.com. For those unable to participate, an archived broadcast will be available shortly following the presentation.

PITTSBURGH - American Eagle Outfitters announced its plans for American Eagle Outfitters and Aerie by American Eagle stores in Japan, in partnership with Sumikin Bussan Corporation. The first store is slated to open in Tokyo’s Harajuku shopping district in the first half of 2012.

AEO said it has signed an exclusive franchise agreement with Sumikin, a leading marketer, importer and exporter with extensive experience in the fashion industry, among other lines of business. 

Seattle - REI  (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) will to open a new store in Olympia, Wash. in the spring of 2011. 

The two-story, 25,000 square-foot store will be located off Cooper Point Road at Westfield Capital Shopping Mall. 

“REI looks forward to extending our roots further south in Puget Sound with the new store in Olympia,” said Kevin Golic, REI’s retail director for the Washington Alaska district. 

QUINCY, Mass. - Stop & Shop Supermarket announced that it set a new record in 2010 with its annual Food for Friends campaign. More than $2 million -- a 40% increase from 2009 -- will be donated to more than 300 local food pantries and regional food banks throughout Stop & Shop's operating areas this year, the company reported.

With only a few days to go until Christmas retailers are already positioning themselves for post holiday success by touting promotions to capitalize on gift card redemptions. Target and JCPenney this week announced special incentives that begin the day after Christmas when both plan to open at 7 a.m.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.  - Raymour & Flanigan announced the arrival of the Kathy Ireland Home brand to its collection of furniture products. The line will be available in the first quarter of 2011.

American consumers had more than holiday shopping on their mind during the third quarter as evidenced by record sales results from CarMax. The nation’s largest seller of used cars with 103 superstores nationwide said its same-store sales increased 16% during then third quarter ended November 30. Total sales increased by 23% to slightly more than $2.1 billion and earnings per share of 36 cents were two cents better than analysts forecast.