News

Los Altos, Calif. – Catalog Spree has launched a new beauty department in its mobile shopping app with lookbooks for retailers including Sephora, Beauty.com, Avon, Bliss, and The Body Shop. Catalog Spree's full-page lookbooks let consumers browse and shop by flipping through pages on an iPad or iPhone.

The app features more than 350 custom lookbooks, as well as traditional digital catalogs. Catalog Spree says the lookbooks have 50% more page clickthroughs than a traditional digital catalog.

Atlanta – Independent bookstores are reportedly growing sales at a healthy rate despite stiff competition from Amazon.com. According to an article in Fortune, American Booksellers Association figures show that independent bookstore sales in the U.S. grew 8% last year and are on track to grow at a similar pace this year.

New York -- Holiday sales are expected to climb to between $963 and $967 billion, representing a 4% to 4.5% increase in November through January holiday sales (excluding motor vehicles and gasoline) this year from last year’s season, according to the new Deloitte holiday sales forecast. The growth rate is on par with last year's 4.5% gain.

In addition, Deloitte forecasts a 12.5 to 13% increase in non-store sales. Nearly three-quarters of non-store sales result from the online channel with additional sales coming from catalogs and interactive TV.

Imagine you are at in a major department store’s corporate headquarters as your team prepares numbers for the upcoming holiday season. The frenetic pace of retail holiday hiring can frazzle even the most experienced manager, and diligently checking every box in the employee onboarding process can seem laughably optimistic in the rush to find, hire and get as many employees as possible going in a matter of days.

Royal Ahold supervisory board member Tom de Swaan has announced plans to resign.

Netherlands-based Ahold, the parent company of Ahold USA and U.S. supermarket banners Stop & Shop, Giant Food of Landover, Md., and Giant Food Stores of Carlisle, Pa., as well as the online grocer Peapod, said de Swaan would resign effective Sept. 30.

The National Retail Federation anticipates that nearly 158 million consumers will participate in Halloween activities this year — slightly fewer than the historic high of 170 million people last year. 

New figures from the National Retail Federation indicate the average consumer will spend $75.03 on Halloween this year, down 6% from $79.82 last year.

However, average overall spending on Halloween has increased 54.7% since 2005, with total spending estimated to reach $6.9 billion in 2013. Other NRF figures include:

Deloitte’s holiday sales forecast points to further signs that the economy is recovering. Holiday sales are expected to climb to between $963 and $967 billion, representing a 4% to 4.5% increase in November through January holiday sales (excluding motor vehicles and gasoline) this year from last year’s season. 

In preparation for the holiday shopping season, Walmart has announced plans to hire 55,000 seasonal employees. 

The big box retailer also intends to transition more than 35,000 workers from temporary to part-time and another 35,000 workers from part-time to full-time.

LIVONIA, Mich. — Pet Supplies Plus has named former Sports Authority executive Dan Boose as the company’s CFO.

Boose has more than 25 years of finance experience and more than 15 years of operating experience in the specialty retail sector. As CFO, Boose will be charged with positioning PSP to execute its growth plan with an emphasis on strong profitability and operating efficiency.

The pet category is experiencing growth, and True Value has taken notice. The retailer is paying special attention to statistics that show 72% of pet owners consider their pet a member of their family, and 70% of dog owners think their dog understands how they are feeling better than most people do.

It's no secret that home owners love their pets, but the category is attractive to independent hardware stores for more retail-centric reasons, according to panelists on a True Value seminar here at the co-op's 2013 Fall Reunion.