News

Foothill Ranch, Calif. -- Wet Seal recorded a loss of $14.9 million for the fiscal 2013 third quarter, essentially flat with last year.

Sales dipped to $127.7 million from $135.5 million, and same-store edged up 0.8%, including an increase of 1.7% at Wet Seal and a decrease of 6.7% at Arden B.

New York  -- MasterCard Spending Pulse reported that U.S. electronics retailers hit the jackpot with their early Thanksgiving openings, recording triple- digit growth on Thanksgiving Day this year compared to 2012.

According to the November report, which tracks retail sales across all forms of payment (including credit cards, cash and check), sales for the Electronics category shot up on Thanksgiving; however, sales in that sector declined slightly on Black Friday.

New York -- eMarketer projects that retail e-commerce holiday sales in the U.S. will rise about 15% again this year, matching last year's gains. In total, U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the holiday season — defined as November and December — are expected to reach $61.8 billion, up from $53.7 billion last year, according to the report.
 
As well, eMarketer estimates US retail e-commerce sales will grow 16.4% to $262.3 billion this year, with 23.5% ($61.8 billion) of this taking place in November and December.

New York -- Express Inc. reported net income of $19.3 million for the quarter ended Nov. 2, an 11% rise over last year’s $17.4 million profit.

Revenue increased 7.4% to $503 million, beating Wall Street’s expected $500 million in sales, and same-store sales increased 5%.

However, the specialty retailer lowered its guidance for the fiscal year as it said Thanksgiving week sales exceeded last year's levels but didn't meet expectations.

Portland, Ore. -- Research conducted by InComm found that 67% of consumers surveyed have previously bought a gift card from an online website or mobile website/app, while 33% have not.

Respondents answered questions about their purchasing habits and their intentions for purchasing gift cards from websites and mobile devices – as well as digital cards specifically – this holiday season and beyond.

Highlights of the survey include:

Oakland, Calif. -- Current consumer behavior indicates that most consumers are more concerned with how well retailers are able to deliver goods according to customer preferences than about ordering via social media channels.

A GT Nexus online survey, conducted in association with YouGov, showed that while 3% of respondents say they have purchased goods using social media channels, consumers generally cite the inclusion of delivery/collection options as being important to them when ordering a product either online or in-store (75%).

Minneapolis -- Christopher & Banks Corp. reported that net income for the quarter ended Nov. 2 rose to $8.6 million, from $3.6 million in the same period last year.

Sales edged up to $118.1 million from $117.3 million, and same-store sales increased 4.9%.

During the quarter, the retailer operated an average of 7.3% fewer stores than during the comparable period last year, reflecting its store rationalization program.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. said Wednesday that sales for the first quarter rose 6% to $18.35 billion, from $17.32 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.  

Same-store sales increased 5.5% for the quarter. November sales totaled $6.07 billion, up 4.1% from $5.83 billion a year earlier.

The retailer attributed sales spikes to increased investment in promotional strategies.

By Steve Cole, CMO, Gladson

Here’s a bit of holiday cheer for retailers: According to Shop.org, online sales will grow 13%-15% this holiday season. But do retailers have what it takes to cash in?

New York -- Eddie Lambert’s ESL Partners has reduced the size of its stake in Sears Holdings Corp. disclosing in a regulatory filing on that it now owns 48.4% of its shares, down from 55.4%.

In a statement, Lampert said that his fund had distributed 7.4 million shares in Sears to investors who wanted to withdraw money from his firm.  He said that he had not sold any of his personal holdings.