News

CHICAGO — Fashion jewelry retailer Claire's Stores said that it expects to report a 13.4% spike in net sales to $493 million for the fourth quarter over the same period last year, thanks in part to an additional week of net sales and a comparable-store sales increase of 5.4%.

For the full year, Claire's expects to report net sales of $1.6 billion for fiscal 2012, an increase of 4.1%, compared with fiscal 2011.  

Consolidated same-store sales increased 1.8% for the fiscal year.

San Jose, Calif. -- Verifone Systems said Tuesday that it has secured a deal with French department store chain Galeries Lafayette to handle its payment solutions and services over a five-year contract period.

The agreement includes managed services, software, helpdesk and 3,200 of VeriFone’s VX 820 advanced PIN acceptance devices that support credit, debit and EMV transactions, and include integrated NFC/contactless technology for alternative payments.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A sticky situation just got stickier.

Elmer’s Products has introduced Elmer’s ProBond Advanced adhesive, which is being promoted as a multipurpose glue that’s as strong as a polyurethane competitor, but without the foamy mess.

NEW YORK -- Google is looking to extend its presence in the retail space, by opening freestanding stores in the United States.

According to a report by online site 9to5Google, the first flagship locations will open in time for the 2013 holiday shopping season.

“Google feels right now that many potential customers need to get hands-on experience with its products before they are willing to purchase," the website reported.

SEATTLE — Amazon.com has launched the Entertainment Collectibles Store (amazon.com/entertainmentcollectibles) which offers more than 350,000 unique and rare collectibles, including memorabilia from Academy Award and Grammy winning artists and honorees. 

Amazon customers can browse collectibles by item type, entertainment type, autographed, price and year to find everything from classic photographs and original manuscripts to signed artist contracts and autographed movie posters.

St. Louis -- Build-A-Bear Workshop, which is in the midst of a major turnaround initiative, reported a net loss of $36.5 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec. 29, compared with a net loss of $9 million during the prior-year quarter.

Total revenue for the quarter was $118.2 million, down 1% from the prior-year quarter.

PORT WASHINGTON — Despite a plethora of constantly changing products, the consumer technology industry saw its sales decline 2% in 2012, according to The NPD Group. This is on top of the less than 1% drop in 2011. Since 2010, consumer technology sales have declined by $4 billion.

While I enjoy reading the annual sales predictions and yearly retail real estate outlook columns published each year, they often have a tendency to get bogged down in the details. When forecasting in the medium- to long-term, it’s often best to focus on the big-picture trends — an approach that not only avoids the all-too-common problem of missing the forest for the trees, but provides important insights about where the industry may be headed, not just in six or 12 months, but in six or 12 years.