News

Incoming Gap Inc. CEO Art Peck announced key members of his global team in conjunction with the release of mixed third quarter results.

Peck is scheduled to replace Gap Inc. CEO Glenn Murphy in February and late Thursday he named new global brand presidents for Gap and Banana Republic.

Ross Stores didn’t let a surprisingly strong third quarter comp increase go to its head and maintained a cautious view of consumer spending.

Sales at the company increased 8% to nearly $2.6 billion and same store sales increased 4%. Net income increased to $193 million, or 93 cents a share, from $172 million, or 80 cents a share.

The Children's Place has announced the appointment of Anurup Pruthi as senior vice president and chief financial officer effective Dec. 1.

CINCINNATI - Americans are divided on the merits of shopping on Thanksgiving Day.  The latest LoyaltyOne research shows there are three kinds of American Thanksgiving Day shoppers:  50% who say all-day shopping hours on Thanksgiving Day are a bad idea; 33% who say stores being open all day Thanksgiving is a great idea that provides more time for holiday gift shopping and 17% who can’t make up their mind.

New York - Amazon is once again tops in online customer satisfaction, but its leadership is eroding, according to a study by Answers.com, a provider of  cloud-based customer experience solutions. Amazon is down four points from its 2013 score of 84 (on a 100-point scale), and leads QVC.com and Netflix by just one point. 

  New York - Apple is expanding its Apple Pay across hundreds of supermarkets.  Associated Food Stores, Shaw's Supermarkets, Jewel Osco, Albertson's and Bi-Lo Holdings have joined Whole Foods Markets,  which was one of the original Apple Pay launch partners, to accept the new payment option.   Bi-Lo Holdings, parent company of Bi-Lo, Harveys and Winn-Dixie grocery stores, said it is now suporting Apple Pay across its entire southeastern footprint.

New York - The chief executive of hardware giant True Value is going undercover—on television that is. True Value Company president and CEO John Hartmann will appear in the season premiere of "Undercover Boss," which airs on Dec. 14 on CBS. 

Framingham, Mass. - Staples Inc. on Wednesday reported that its third quarter net income rose 60% to $216.8, in line with Wall Street expectations, amid signs that its reinvention strategy is starting to take hold.  

Goodlettsville, Tenn. - Dollar General Corporation isn’t giving up. The deep discounter on Wednesday  affirmed its commitment to the acquisition of rival Family Dollar Stores. Dollar General’s comments followed the news that Family Dollar has delayed its shareholder vote on its $8.5 billion deal to be bought by Dollar Tree Inc. from Dec. 11 to Dec. 23.

New York - Total retail sales in the United States  will rise 5% to reach $862 billion during November and December this year, according to the latest forecast from eMarketer.  Among the biggest trends to watch will be the acceleration in online sales, which are expected to grow at  16.6% year over year to reach $72.41 billion, or 8.4% of all retail purchases this holiday season. It’s a considerable uptick from 2013, when online sales totaled 7.6% of all holiday retail purchases.