News

Report: layoffs and store closings at Sears Holdings
Retailers typically wait until after the holiday to close stores and announce layoffs, but widespread media reports indicated Sears Holding will be doing a little of both ahead of Christmas. The company may close as many as 100 stores and layoff nearly 5,500 people before the year’s end, according to a report which first surfaced on the Web site Seeking Alpha. Closures include over 100 Kmart, Sears and Sears Auto Center locations. Sears revenue has been in decline for 30 straight quarters.
Taubman to offer interactive "Frozen" attraction at 10 malls this holiday season
Bloomfield Hills, Mich. --Taubman will offer a special "Frozen"attraction at 10 of its shopping centers across the country from Nov. 6-Dec. 24. The attraction comes a few days before Disney releases its "Frozen Sing-Along Edition" DVD on Nov. 18.

Build-A-Bear Workshop swings to Q3 profit; plans holiday pop-ups in Macy’s

St. Louis –- Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. swung to a profit in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from a loss in the same quarter a year earlier. The retailer also announced that will open five pop-up stores for the 2014 holiday season, including one in Macy’s Herald Square flagship in New York City, and its State Street location in Chicago.
Online last minute shopping’s global appeal

Christmas procrastination knows no boundaries according to a recent survey which shows U.K. shoppers are as bad as Americans when it comes to waiting until the last minute.

For most shoppers Christmas won’t be coming early this this year. Nearly half (47%) of consumers will order gifts online this this holiday season with less than a week until the big day itself, reveals the latest eCustomerServiceIndex results from eDigitalResearch, a UK-based experts on multi-channel customer experiences and IMRG, the UK's industry association for e-retail.
Walmart scores high in “Best Retailers” ranking

When it comes to strategy, leadership and collaboration, Walmart was among the top tier companies in the inaugural Best Retailers to Work With report.
Survey: 90% of holiday shoppers expect consistent experience across channels and devices

Wakefield, Mass. -- Ninety percent of consumers said they expect the customer experience to be consistent across channels and devices used to interact with brands this holiday shopping season, according to a global study by SDL. The figure represents a 17% increase from what consumers reported last year.
Walgreens announces retirement of two long-standing executives
GE Capital provides financing to MX Restaurants for Corner Bakery Cafe

Scottsdale, Ariz. -- GE Capital’s Franchise Finance business announced its first financing for the Corner Bakery Café brand. It comes in the form of a $5.6 million loan to Texas-based MX Restaurants and Bakeries, which already operates seven Corner Bakery restaurants in the Houston and South Texas markets. MX will use these funds to pay off short-term debt related to a recent acquisition and to develop four additional units.
RetailNext releases RetailNext 5.1

San Jose, Calif. -- RetailNext is releasing the latest version of its in-store analytics platform, RetailNext 5.1. New features in RetailNext 5.1 are multiple video stream export, Micros XBR integration, Japanese-language support for user interface and reports, appliance security improvements, and more.
Dollar General special report now available

Dollar General is already one of the nation’s fastest growing retailers and it could get even bigger a lot faster – with major implications for trading partners and competitors – if it prevails in its efforts to acquire Family Dollar.