News

Chicago -- Black Friday sales are expected to increase by 3.8% and Cyber Monday sales to grow by 2.5% this holiday season, according to BDO USA’s Retail Compass Survey of CMOs, which polls chief marketing officers at 100 leading U.S. retailers. Black Friday and Cyber Monday expectations are more bullish this year compared with 2009 when both were expected to rise by 1.8%.

Atlanta -- Home Depot reported Tuesday that it recorded higher-than-expected earnings in the third quarter, boosted by tighter cost controls.

The company’s net income rose to $834 million in the quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with net income of $689 million a year earlier.

Sales rose 1.4% to $16.60 billion, slightly above Wall Street expectations of $16.59 billion. Same-store sales at Home Depot's U.S. stores rose 1.5%. It was the chain’s fourth-straight quarterly gain after three years of declines

Framingham, Mass. -- The TJX Cos.' fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 7%, topping its own forecasts, as the discount retailer's sales improved.

The company reported a better-than-expected profit of $372.3 million, up from $347.8 million in the year-ago period. Net sales rose 5% to $5.53 billion, from $5.24 billion. Same-store sales increased 1%.

Boston -- Portrait Software, a provider of customer interaction optimization software and now a part of Pitney Bowes Business Insight, announced Tuesday that T-Mobile Austria has selected Portrait Uplift Optimizer following a successful trial that demonstrated improved customer retention and reduced costs, compared with previous approaches.