News

Columbus, Ohio -- Abercrombie and Fitch reported Wednesday net income of $71.5 million for the third quarter, compared with $50.9 million in the year-ago period and beating Wall Street expectations. The retailer is forecasting annual earnings above analysts’ estimates.

Revenue rose 9% to $1.17 billion, boosted by a 37% rise in international sales. Same-store sales dipped 3%.

Charleston, S.C. -- A shopping forecast released Tuesday by America’s Research Group found that 31.8% of U.S. consumers said they will shop Black Friday Weekend in search of big-ticket items. But the biggest boost will be in the five days before Christmas when more Americans than in the last seven years say they will shop.

Alan Hoffman, former deputy chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, is the new SVP of global public policy and government affairs at PepsiCo.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation’s 2012 holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight showed that 81.1% of shoppers will purchase at least one gift card and will spend an average of $156.86 on gift cards, the highest amount in the survey’s 10-year history. Total spending on gift cards will reach $28.79 billion.

According to NRF’s first holiday survey, released in October, six in 10 (59.8%) of those polled said they’d like to receive gift cards this year, up from 57.7% last year.

Meijer has made it so shoppers don’t have to pore through circulars on Thanksgiving Day and then wake at 3 a.m. to wait in line and jostle with other customers on Black Friday.

Meijer said it is making holiday shopping easier for customers this year by offering aggressive Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday doorbuster deals on popular brands all day long while supplies last.

A new relationship with Citi Retail Services gives OfficeMax another benefit to tout when serving small business customers.

The retailer worked with Citi to launch the new store-branded credit card tied to the OfficeMax MaxPerk Rewards program which allows customers to receive a $25 reward for every $500 spent on qualified purchases. In addition, the no-annual fee product provides special financing offers, flexible payment options a dedicated line of credit for business expenses and detailed tracking of purchases.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates said that import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 5.9% in November despite the temporary closure of some ports by superstorm Sandy.