Logistics

New York --Forrester Research said Monday it expects U.S. online sales to reach $89 billion in November and December. That's up 13%, or about $10 billion, over a year ago. But Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru noted that the expected growth is not as high as it could be due to a few unique constraints, including fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and capacity constraints in the already constrained carrier networks.

Seattle -- Nordstrom plans to open a Nordstrom Rack Crossroads at Eatontown in Eatontown, N.J.   The 35,250-square-foot store is scheduled to open in fall 2015. Crossroads at Eatontown is owned and operated by LGR Associates, LP.  

Flower Mound, Texas -- UCR Dallas announced that Luna Grill opened its first Texas location in October, debuting at Riverwalk Market at the northeast corner of FM 2499 and FM 1171 in Flower Mound, Texas.

 

The Mediterranean restaurant leased 2,200 sq. ft. with an outdoor patio. Luna Grill currently has 16 locations in California and Texas, and expects to open more in 2015. 

ABF Freight has done something no other company in the trucking industry has done before.

The Fort Smith, Ark.-based national carrier was awarded the American Trucking Association’s President’s Trophy for the seventh time during the group’s annual safety and human resources conference in Orlando. ABF Freight also received the trucking industry’s most prestigious award in 1984, 1989, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2010. No other national carrier has earned the award more than five times.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to close about 30 underperforming Seiyu stores in Japan. Wal-Mart first invested in Seiyu in 2002 and took full control of the chain in 2008.  

Walmart’s Japanese subsidiary Seiyu plans to close 30 stores and remodel 50 others next year in an effort to strengthen its every day low price strategy.

Atlanta –- United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) is reportedly forecasting that six days in the upcoming holiday season will be busier for shipping packages than its busiest day in the 2013 holiday season. According to Bloomberg, UPS predicts it will deliver 585 million packages in December, an 11% year-over-year increase.  

Stamford, Conn. -- The U.S., U.K. and Germany are the most desirable e-destinations for consumers to purchase goods online outside their own country. According to new global online research from Pitney Bowes Inc., Australians are the most likely to buy products online from retailers outside their own country (63%) followed by Canada and Russia (both 54%).