News

New York -- A holiday preview report released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers said that sales are forecasted to rise 3% during the traditional November-December 2012 holiday period.

Additionally, ICSC said it anticipates that the other two measures of U.S. industry holiday sales – shopping-center sales and GAFO-store sales – will increase slightly as well.  

San Jose, Calif. -- VeriFone Systems said Tuesday that The Finish Line is deploying VeriFone’s latest mobile checkout and multimedia-driven countertop payment solutions.

Following a successful trial, Finish Line is currently deploying VeriFone systems chainwide with the goal of having all 638 locations equipped by mid-November when the holiday buying season begins. Finish Line is deploying 1,600 of the countertop multimedia MX 915 systems and 3,200 PAYware Mobile Enterprise secure mobile card acceptance devices for the iPod touch.

By Jeannie Lewis, [email protected], @dot jeannie

Foothill Ranch, Calif. -- On the heels of activist investor The Clinton Group’s announced plans to replace some of Wet Seal’s board members, the retailer is advising its shareholders against supporting the move.

Washington, D.C. -- Survey results released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation found that 71.5% of Americans will celebrate Halloween this year, up from 68.6% last year and the most in NRF’s 10-year survey history.

The consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight also found the average person will spend $79.82 on decorations, costumes and candy, up from $72.31 last year, with total Halloween spending expected to reach $8.0 billion.
 

Kellogg Company and leading Asian agribusiness group Wilmar International have entered into a joint venture involving the manufacture, sale and distribution of Kellogg’s and Pringles brand products in China.

The firms are equal partners in the deal designed to accelerate Kellogg’s growth in a market the company expects to become the world’s largest food and beverage market within five years.

A desire to mitigate the impact of increasingly volatile commodity prices has led to the appointment of Craig Parr as Flower Foods first chief risk officer.

As the nation’s second largest producer and marketer of packaged bakery foods for retail and foodservice customers, Flower Foods said the move will result initially in increased focus on commodity hedging and purchasing strategies.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl's is partnering with designer Derek Lam for the second installment if its DesigNation limited-edition collection. As part of the Kohl’s DesigNation concept featuring premier designer fashions based on international inspiration, the Derek Lam collection will draw creative influence from his trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The collection features misses’ apparel and swimwear and will be available exclusively at Kohl’s and Kohls.com beginning in April 2013.

KIRKWOOD, Mo. — Supervalu banner Shop 'n Save has launched a program to combat hunger.