Supply Chain & Merchandising

New York -- Shoppers plan to spend more during the upcoming holiday season with omnichannel shoppers having even higher spending expectations. According to Deloitte’s 29th annual holiday survey, total holiday spending is predicted to increase by 13% to $1,299 per household, including gifts, socializing away from home, entertaining at home, non-gift clothing for family or self, home/holiday furnishings, and any other holiday-related spending not in the other categories.  

Office Depot, Inc. is continuing its holiday initiatives.  The merchant, formed by the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax, has announced its “Your Holiday Workshop” campaign being kicked off across all store locations and online on Nov. 2. 

To address the volume of early shoppers, Office Depot and OfficeMax will unveil exclusive daily and weekly product deals from its most popular shopping categories including technology, printers, and furniture alongside other business and home office supplies.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot Inc. launches its “Your Holiday Workshop” campaign across all store locations and online on Nov. 2. “Your Holiday Workshop” efforts will include early Black Friday and “Every Monday is Cyber Monday” deals, and shopper services.   

Milan, Italy –- Specialty eyewear retailer Luxottica Group S.P.A. reported increases in profit and revenue during the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income grew 10% to $259.2 million from $236.8 million in the third quarter of the prior fiscal year, while net sales rose 5% to $3.01 billion from $2.85 billion.  

Fort Worth, Texas -- Harry J. Wilson, founder and CEO of The MAEVA Group, will serve as the chief revitalization officer of RadioShack, reporting to RadioShack CEO Joe Magnacca and the RadioShack board. The MAEVA Group, a specialist in corporate restructurings, will provide advisory services to RadioShack's board of directors and management as the company moves forward with its operational and financial turnaround efforts.    

By Murali Nadarajah, Xchanging Malaysia   Consumers can purchase virtually anything they want anytime from anywhere, from the Internet to social media to mobile devices to good old brick-and-mortar stores. As a result of today’s omnichannel approach to retail, chain stores now have access to a massive collection of customer data that hasn’t existed until recently.  

Menomonee Falls, Wis. - Kohl’s Corp. expects same-store sales to decrease 1.4% in the third quarter of fiscal 2014. The company said October sales have been softer than the balance of the quarter.    Geographically, Kohl’s expects sales to be consistent across all regions. E-commerce sales are expected to increase more than 30%. By line of business, the company expects children’s to report same-store sales increases for the quarter.  

Cincinnati -- Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores plan to open in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2018 as part of a strategic partnership with Al Tayer Group LLC, a UAE-based company with diversified businesses. This will be Macy’s first international store location and the second for Bloomingdale’s.