News

Seattle –- Amazon.com will start offering daily Black Friday deals on Saturday, Nov. 1. Amazon will also start offering two Deals of the Day every day through Monday, Dec. 22.  

San Francisco –- Compared to non-users, Twitter users start holiday shopping earlier, spend more and are more prone to impulse purchases. According to a new study conducted by brand research firm DB5 for Twitter, more than a third (34%) of Twitter users have already begun thinking about holiday shopping, and 81% say they love holiday shopping, compared to 56% of non-users.  

Sunbury, Penn. –- Weis Markets Inc. reported net income of $13.7 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, a 17% increase from $11.7 million in the same period a year earlier. The elimination of a one-time severance charge and impairment charge from the loss of four properties helped boost net income for the quarter.   Net sales increased 3% to $683.9 million from $661.4 million, while its same-store sales increased 2.6%.   

Waterbury, Conn. –- Likely spurred by back-to-school needs, consumers increased their spending on books 13% in the third quarter of 2014 compared to the same quarter the prior year. According to the quarterly Chase Freedom Lifestyle Index quarterly barometer of consumer trends based on aggregated Chase Freedom cardholder spending data, spending at craft stores (up 7%) also rose significantly in the quarter.  

By Craig Johnson, Customer Growth Partners   With a third straight year of dismal retail spending, American consumers will generate only a lackluster 3.4% year-over-year increase in holiday sales, well below the 5% pace in 2010 and 2011, according to Customer Growth Partners’ 14th Annual Holiday Forecast.   

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp extended its $80-a-share tender offer to acquire rival Family Dollar Stores Inc. from Oct. 31, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2014, unless further extended. It is the second time Dollar General has extended its offer.     About 4 million shares, or some 3.6% of Family Dollar's total share capital of about 114 million, had been validly tendered into the offer as of Oct. 30, Dollar General said in a statement.  

Canton, Mass. -- Big & tall men's apparel retailer Destination XL Group announced that it has increased its existing asset-based revolving line of credit with Bank of America, N.A. by $25 million to $125 million.     In addition, the company entered into a new agreement with Wells Fargo Capital Finance for a $15 million five-year senior secured second lien term loan.  

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- Kohl’s has overhauled its core merchandising, inventory, and pricing operations with the launch of a new Oracle Retail Merchandise Operations Management solution, allowing the retailer to coordinate a unified system of record for inventory to better serve multi-channel customers and to simplify its business user experience.  

Off price retailer Tuesday Morning enjoyed an 11.3% surge in its first quarter same store sales as it benefitted from the introduction of new and expanded merchandise categories.