News

Retailers have pulled out the stops this holiday season, especially when it comes to experimenting with cutting-edge digital technologies. But innovation shouldn’t be reserved for the holidays — it is something that should be infused into the shopping experience all year long.

Sam’s Club president and CEO Brian Cornell may have been the last of Walmart’s three divisional presidents to speak on the company’s conference call, but he had the best news to share.

Sam’s produced a 5.7% third-quarter same-store sales increase that was unaided by fuel prices, and Cornell indicated the string of seven consecutive quarters of sequentially increasing comps could be extended in the fourth quarter, with guidance that set 6% as the upper end of the forecast range. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Ahmad Ouri has been named president of Premier Retail Networks, a global leader in digital place-based media services. Based in San Francisco, Ouri will oversee all PRN activities and lead the development and strategic growth of the company, which is wholly owned by Technicolor.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. reported Thursday that its loss widened in the third quarter on softness in its Canada division and on weaker consumer electronics sales.

The operator of Sears and Kmart recorded a loss of $421 million in the quarter ended Oct. 29, compared with a loss of $218 million a year earlier.

Revenue slipped 1% to $9.57 billion from $9.68 billion, missing the $9.63 billion expected by Wall Street, and marking the fourth straight quarter of revenue declines.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — GameStop reported that total sales for the third quarter of 2011 were $1.95 billion, an increase of 2.5% compared with $1.9 billion in the prior year quarter. Total company comparable-store sales were down 0.6%, primarily impacted by lower-than-expected sales of new software. GameStop’s digital sales showed continued strength, increasing 59%, with console digital growing 63% and PC digital growing 51%. Pre-owned sales increased 3.1%.

Kearney, Neb. -- Teen retailer The Buckle Inc. reported Thursday that profit surged 11% to $38.3 million for the third quarter, compared with $34.4 million in the year-ago period.

Online sales increased 25.4% in the quarter. Total revenue climbed 12% to $273.4 million, beating Wall Street’s expected $272.1 million. Same-store sales rose 9.1%.
 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Winn-Dixie on Wednesday announced it has joined forces with Feeding America to launch the Give a Meal program, which gives Winn-Dixie guests and team members the opportunity to help provide food to nearly 37 million Americans — including more than 14 million children — facing hunger this holiday season. Give a Meal runs through Jan. 3 and is available in all of Winn-Dixie’s 482 stores in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Chicago -- According to a BDO USA survey of 100 CMOs at leading U.S. retailers, just 27% expect to see an increase in Black Friday sales, down from 38% in 2010.

Similarly, only 24% project an increase in Cyber Monday sales, with the vast majority (74%) expecting flat sales. Overall, CMOs project a 1.6% increase in Black Friday sales (down from 3.8% in 2010) and a 2.5% increase in Cyber Monday sales.