News

New York — Most Americans won’t shop on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday this year. According to a new Bankrate.com survey of 1,000 consumers, only 28% of Americans plan to shop in a store on Black Friday.   

Mooresville, N.C. — Lowe’s Companies raised its full-year profit and sales forecast as strong home improvement spending boosted its profits and sales in the third quarter. An improving job market has led to increased homeowner spending on renovation projects, spurring Lowe’s strong performance. In addition, higher pretax earnings helped improve total net earnings.  

Minneapolis — Target Corp. gained some momentum going into the holiday season with a third quarter that beat both Wall Street and internal expectations as sales as its U.S. stores exceeded estimates and its troubled Canadian division showed signs of improvement. Its results were also driven by increased promotional activity. This was Target’s first quarter under the leadership of CEO Brian Cornell, who replaced Gregg Steinhafel in August.   

Same stores sales declined again at Staples North American retail stores in the third quarter, but chairman and CEO Ron Sargent contends the company is gaining momentum on a reinvention strategy.

Sargent is being generous with his usage of the word momentum to describe the performance of the nation’s leading office supplies retailer. The third quarter revealed persistent weakness in retail operations and the international business offset by modest growth in the commercial business.

Lowe’s said its third quarter same store sales spiked 5.1% a day after Home Depot reported an even stronger increase.

Total company sales increased 5.6% to $13.7 billion driven by increased productivity of existing stores as evidenced by a 5.1% comp increase. Home Depot said its third quarter same store sales increased 5.8%. Lowe’s profits increased 17.3% to $585 million while earnings per share increased 25.5% to 59 cents and were aided by $900 million in share repurchase activity.

BJ's Wholesale Club has introduced a Mastercard program that ups the ante in the wholesale club credit card category. The My BJ's Perks MasterCard will offer members 10 cents off per gallon of BJ's gas every day, up to 5% back on purchases in-club and at BJs.com, 2% back on eating out and non-BJ's gas purchases, and 1% back on purchases made everywhere else MasterCard is accepted.  

Zappos.com says it will celebrate Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend by donating 10 meals per order placed on Zappos.com in partnership with Feeding America, the leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

The company says the objective of its Fast, Free Giving effort is to give back this holiday season and for consumers to put their dollars behind more than just holiday gifts: to help those most in need, too.

Winn-Dixie is partnering with the Hershey Co. to outfit stores with a “Candy Experience” section: a new concept that has replaced the traditional candy aisle in a Winn-Dixie in Baton Rouge, La.  

Tests show that the new candy section, best described as a “store within a store,” can lift confection category sales for retailers by strong double digits. The candy experience sits at the front of the store, a dramatically different location from an aisle where consumers must hunt around for the candy shelves.

It took a heightened level of promotional activity to drive marginally better than expected third quarter same store sales growth at Target’s U.S. stores while losses in Canada were less severe than the prior year.

True Value’s boss went undercover, and the cameras were rolling. True Value Company president and CEO John Hartmann will appear in the season six premiere of "Undercover Boss" airing on Dec. 14 on CBS.