News

Whole Food’s said it gained market share during the third quarter, but the 5.9% same store sales increase the company reported fell short of expectations and the company tempered its outlook for 2014.
 

Los Angeles -- Earlier in October, shoppers were put off by holiday displays in store; now people are warming up to them. Analysis of social media buzz for the week of Oct. 30 – Nov. 5 by social media research firm Fizziology shows that positive conversation about displays rose from 15% to 22%, while negatives dropped from 10% to less than 1%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro has made up for lost time in the second half of the year, finishing with fiscal year sales essentially flat from the previous year.

The company's full year net sales were $2.82 billion, after a 9% increase in the second half, including a 10% increase in the fourth quarter.

San Jose, Calif. -- Despite the shortest shopping season since 2002, online sales look strong for the upcoming holidays. A new survey from Adobe predicts record growth for online sales on Thanksgiving with $1.1 billion and Black Friday with $1.6 billion, increases of 21% and 17%, respectively.

Lover.ly, a wedding inspiration and shopping site, has appointed founder of Nordstrom.com Bob Schwartz as the company’s first chairman.

As chairman, Schwartz will work closely with founder and CEO Kellee Khalil and the Lover.ly executive team to help shape the company’s long-term strategic growth, business and partnership development, capital strategy and build out Lover.ly’s brand and product pipelines.

New York – Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity was strong in the retail and consumer industry during the third quarter of 2013. Data from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows that transaction values on M&A deals in the retail/consumer sector rose 112% compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

Michaels is offering a free, interactive “Just Add Wishes” DIY site to help consumers with holiday needs. From Nov. 11 through Dec. 24, kids can interact with a live elf through streaming video.

After hours, kids can play games and build wish lists that parents can share on Facebook. On Christmas Eve, the site becomes a Santa Tracker, including a Santa locator, behind-the-scenes information from the North Pole control tower and the Santa Cam, where kids get to see Santa at work putting presents under trees and filling stockings.

St. Petersburg, Fla. – HSN, Inc. (HSNi) reported impressive financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2013. Net income soared about 137% to $42.05 million, compared to $17.69 million in the same quarter a year prior.