News

Paris -- French retailing giant Carrefour has joined an investment group aiming to acquire more than a 100 shopping malls in France, Spain, and Italy.

According to a New York Times report, the $2.7 billion deal will add 127 malls to Carrefour’s current 45-mall portfolio. The plan is to create a new, separate property company in which Carrefour would hold a 42% stake. Institutional investors would hold the rest.

More Americans now say they are loosening the purse strings in advance of the holiday season, and fewer say they are tightening their belts, according to a recent Citi national survey.

Only 35% said they would be spending less than last year, reflecting the lowest level of holiday budget cutbacks since the financial crisis. As many as 63% of Americans plan to spend more (11%) or the same (52%) on holiday shopping this year.

Arlington, Va. -- Sales of gift cards in 2013 are expected to surpass $118 billion in sales, an 8% increase from 2012. CEB Tower Report research suggests that the widespread adoption of e-gifting, which experienced rapid growth from $300 million in 2012 to a predicted $3 billion in 2013, will provide scale for continued industry gains through 2016.

Millburn, N.J. – A 30-year-old man was fatally shot during a carjacking at The Mall at Short Hills, an upscale shopping center in Millburn, N.J. According to the Newark Star-Ledger, the man and his wife were entering their Range Rover on a parking deck at around 9 p.m., on Dec. 15, following an evening of holiday shopping at the mall when two men fired multiple shots.

One year after beginning operation, two 415 foot tall wind turbines at SC Johnsons’ Mt. Pleasant, Wis., manufacturing facility are helping the facility generate 100% of its power needs on site.

The mammoth turbines are located at the company’s largest manufacturing facility known as “waxdale” which encompasses an area the size of 36 football fields. It’s where brands such as Glade, Windex, Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles, Shout, Raid and OFF! are manufactured.

Washington, D.C. -- According to NRF’s latest holiday survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, nearly half (49.9%) of holiday shoppers indicate they plan to do the remainder of their holiday shopping online, the highest percent in the survey’s 11-year history. As of Dec. 9, before the most recent weekend, 32 million holiday shoppers had not even started shopping.

Merchant Warehouse, a leading provider of payment technologies and merchant account services, has appointed Christopher Wuhrer as SVP, strategic initiatives and product marketing.

With more than 18 years of experience in payments, e-commerce and mobile technology, Wuhrer will be responsible for driving the product vision, direction and go-to market strategies for the company's product and service offerings.

New York -- Analysis has uncovered a 46% increase in social networking referrals to top 500 retail websites during the most critical week of the year, just one of four key trends identified in a report by Experian Marketing Services.

The 2013 holiday marketing analysis from the holiday shopping season's peak week, the period beginning Thanksgiving and ending on Cyber Monday, cited the following four trends: