Data & Analytics

New York -- MasterCard Advisor’s latest MasterCard Spending Pulse survey found that there are some product categories that won’t see the biggest spending uptick on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The monthly SpendingPulse report anticipates that the biggest shopping day of the season for jewelry and luxury retailers will be Dec. 21 – the last Saturday before Christmas, which is becoming commonly known as “Super Saturday.”

Redlands, Calif. — Esri has launched a public beta version of its cloud-based Geotrigger Service, which helps developers create location-aware apps for iPhone and Android without compromising battery lift. Developers may use the beta Geotrigger Service at no cost, and their comments will help to shape the official release.

Evanston, Ill. -- Walgreens on Thursday opened what is believed to be the nation’s first net zero energy retail store (a net zero building produces energy equal to or greater than it consumes). Located in Evanston, Ill., the store features two wind turbines, nearly 850 solar panels and a geothermal system burrowed 550 ft. into the ground. Engineering estimates indicate that the new Walgreens will use 200,000 kilowatt hours per year of electricity while generating 220,000 kilowatt hours per year.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp.'s third-quarter net income fell 47%, hurt by costs related to its Canadian expansion. Its adjusted profit beat analysts' estimates, but sales fell short. The retailer lowered its full-year adjusted earnings forecast.

For the three months ended Nov. 2, Target earned $341 million, or 54 cents per share, down from $637 million in the year ago period. Removing Canada-related expansion costs and other items, earnings were 84 cents per share.

New Albany, Ohio -- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. swung to a loss in its third quarter, dragged down in part by charges related to the shuttering of its 28 freestanding Gilly Hicks stores. But its adjusted profit topped analysts' estimates, even as its sales softened.

Redmond, Wash. -- Canadian pharmacy retailer The Jean Coutu Group Inc. has selected Microsoft Dynamics for Retail to manage all its retail operations, from its headquarters down to the point-of-sale devices in stores. Jean Coutu will deploy Microsoft Dynamics to more than 400 stores, 3,000 POS systems and 11,500 devices with implementation to start in 2014.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings widened its loss in the third quarter as sales decreased at both its Sears and Kmart units.

For the three months ended Nov. 2, Sears lost $534 million, down from a loss of $498 million a year earlier.

Revenue fell 7% to $8.27 billion from $8.86 billion mostly because it had fewer Sears and Kmart stores operating.

Same-store sales dropped 3.1%, and were down 4% at Sears' stores and declined 2.1% at Kmart stores.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma Inc.'s on Thursday reported that its third-quarter profit rose a better-then-expected 16% as same-store sales increased across all its brands. The company also raised its full-year view.

Chesapeake, Va. -- Dollar Tree Inc. reported that its net income in the third quarter fell 19%, impacted by a one -time gain a year related to selling its stake in the Ollie's Holdings chain. The company forecast results for the fourth quarter below Street expectations.

The company posted earnings of $125.4 million for the period ended Nov. 2, down from $155.4 million a year ago.

Revenue rose 9.5% to $1.88 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $1.91 billion.

Same-store sales were up 3%.

New York -- Stage Stores said Thursday that its fiscal third-quarter loss widened as some expenses rose. The company cut its fiscal 2013 adjusted earnings forecast.

The department store retailer lost $11 million for the period ended Nov. 2, compared to a loss of $8.9 million.

Revenue declined 3% to $360.2 million, from $370.6 million. Same-store sales fell 4.6%.

Selling, general and administrative expenses climbed to $98.6 million from $92.5 million during the quarter. Interest expense increased to $718,000 from $568,000.