Data & Analytics

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects holiday sales to increase 3.9% to $602.1 billion, up slightly from last year’s 3.5% increase. The forecast is higher than the 10-year average holiday sales growth of 3.3%.

The group noted, however, that its forecast hinges “on Congress and the Administration's actions" over the next 45 days as the government shutdown entered a third day

Ikea shares lessons learned from 39 diverse installations

Sustainability is a cornerstone of home furnishings retailer Ikea, its brand and its business plan, reflecting the company’s Swedish heritage.

Harris Teeter’s shareholders voted to approve the previously announced merger agreement among Harris Teeter, Hornet Acquisition and Kroger.

Approximately 98.6% of the votes cast were in favor of the agreement, representing approximately 82.5% of Harris Teeter’s outstanding common stock as of Aug. 22.

Newell Rubbermaid is consolidating its marketing efforts and picking one lead creative partner and one lead media-buying partner to help oversee the company’s global advertising and promotion investment.

Across America, big-box centers are powering back up

Power centers have proven themselves to be a resilient asset class in recent years. First the recession cut into business. Then e-commerce leveled some of their big-box tenants, hurt others and ignited a downsizing trend.

Yet research from Washington, D.C.-based CoStar Group shows that only 2% of power centers have vacancy rates of 40% or higher and probably won’t recover. Another 6% have vacancy rates of 20% to 40% and are in serious condition but may recover.

IBM has acquired Xtify Inc.,a leading provider of cloud-based mobile messaging tools that help organizations improve mobile sales, drive in-store traffic and engage customers with personalized offers. Financial terms are not being disclosed.

The acquisition will help extend IBM's mobile capabilities to digital marketers across all industries ranging from retail to citizen engagement in the public sector through cloud-based services.

Doubling your store count is the type of growth most retailers seek. So 38-unit, Louisiana-based grocery retailer Rouses didn’t complain back in 2007 when it upped its store count in Louisiana and Mississippi from 15 to 32 by purchasing the regional Sav-A-Center chain from A&P. However, for a family-owned business that had previously grown organically, this sudden spurt in its number and distribution of stores created a few issues.

It’s easy these days to get caught up in the frenzy as online sales growth outpaces total retail sales growth. But let’s not lose sight of an important fact: The physical store still remains the most crucial brand touchstone for shoppers. It’s also where the overwhelming majority of retailers still rack up their volume. And according to nearly every reputable forecast, that isn’t likely to change anytime soon.