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Average spending per school age child is expected to decline this year from 2012 levels, according to the National Retail Federation, setting the stage for heightened competition in an already intensely competitive seasonal selling period.

NRF said spending per child in grades K-12 would decline to $634 in 2013 compared to $688 last year and spending per college student would decline to $836 from $907. The trade group forecast total K-12 spending of $26.7 billion and total back-to-college spending of $45.8 billion for a combined market size of $72.5 billion.

There are a wide range of experiments in the marketplace right now, and plenty of angst related to same-day delivery of products and consumer’s desire for more immediate e-commerce gratification. Walmart, Amazon and others appear intent on unlocking what is seen by some as the next big thing in retail, but an interesting piece by Fox Business bring a new perspective to whether shoppers care. Click here to read more. 

Charlotte, N.C. -- Regional shopping center company Crosland Southeast has acquired 24 former Blockbuster stores from Blockbuster Corporate, spanning North and South Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee and Florida. Blockbuster vacated all stores at closing, and Crosland Southeast has already sold 11 of the 24.

The future of multichannel commerce at Walmart will be detailed next week in the mountains of Colorado where the retailer’s two top digital executives are scheduled to participate in a conference hosted by Fortune.

The exclusive — and sold out — three day event held at the Aspen Institute and will feature Neil Ashe, president and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce and Karenann Terrell, EVP and chief information officer, discussing the topic of, “How does technology fuel the success of both on-and offline at the world’s largest retailer.”

Given the choice of shopping at only one retailer for the rest of their lives, millennial parents chose Walmart over several other popular retailers.
The study of the millenials, those age 25 to 34, was conducted by Vision Critical, and not surprisingly showed the demographic group changed purchasing habits and behaviors after starting a family.

Safeway digested an unprecedented amount of change during the second quarter and still managed to achieve solid profit improvement and a respectable amount of sales growth while strengthening its balance sheet.

Pleasanton, Calif. – Safeway reported a substantial decline in net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 as well as a drop in sales. Adjusted net income for the quarter was $8.4 million, compared to $122.7 million in the same quarter a year earlier. However, after adjusting for various legal expenses and loss from discontinued operations, net income for the quarter would have been $125.1 million.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — CafePress, a proprietary print-on-demand services and e-commerce platform provider, has appointed Garett Jackson to the newly created role of CIO. Jackson is based in Louisville and will report to CEO Bob Marino.