The holiday shopper are off and running — more or less. Follow what’s happening at the malls and major retailers.
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Yelp Check-ins comes to Chicago merchants
Online review site Yelp is partnering with local merchants, including businesses in Chicago, to offer discounts when customers “check in” using their mobile phones.
Yelp introduced its Check-ins feature in January, encouraging its members to broadcast their locations when they visited a local business. Get the full story »
J. Crew to go private in $3B deal
J. Crew says it will be taken private in a deal with two investment firms, including its former parent, worth $3 billion.
The preppy retailer will receive $43.50 per share to private equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners, confirming media reports Monday. That is a 16 percent premium to the stock’s closing price of $37.65. Get the full story »
Consumer Reports: United naughty, U.S. Cellular nice
Just in time for the holidays, Consumer Reports has released a list of 10 companies, including United Airlines, that it believes have been naughty to shoppers, and 10 that have been deemed as nice, including U.S. Cellular.
The Naughty & Nice Holiday List is based on input from Consumer Reports’ reporters and editors who cover such areas as shopping, travel, hospitality and telecommunications. Consumer Reports notes that the Naughty & Nice Holiday List is based on specific policies and doesn’t reflect the company as a whole. Get the full story »
Wal-Mart to offer price matching on ‘Black Friday’
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it will match rivals’ prices on “Black Friday,” upping the ante in the battle to win sales on what is considered to be the kick-off to the U.S. holiday shopping season and a gauge of how overall holiday retail sales will shape up. Get the full story »
Gap profit off 1.3%, sales up 1.7% in 3Q
Gap Inc.’s fiscal third-quarter profit fell 1.3 percent, though share repurchases boosted the the casual-apparel retailer’s per-share earnings.
But shares of Gap, which affirmed its fiscal-year outlook, were down 2.1 percent, at $20.47, after hours as margins fell and the company said it would close fewer stores than previously planned. Get the full story »
ShopperTrak ups forecast for holiday sales, traffic
A flood of early promotions and longer store hours have spurred a key retail group to raise its forecast for holiday sales.
ShopperTrak predicts sales for the November-December holiday period will increase 3.2 percent from last year, a bigger gain than the 2.9 percent the Chicago-based market research group initially anticipated. Foot traffic is forecast to rise 1 percent for the period, instead of the originally forecast 0.1 percent decline. Get the full story »
Wal-Mart to open D.C. stores in urban expansion
Wal-Mart plans to open four stores in the District of Columbia, The Washington Post reported in its Thursday edition.
The retailer continues to move forward with plans to open smaller outlets in major metropolitan areas. In Chicago, Wal-Mart won approval for its second and third stores in Chicago in the middle of 2010. Get the full story »
60 million shoppers expected on Black Friday
As many as 138 million U.S. shoppers could be hunting for Black Friday bargains during the three days after Thanksgiving, a slight increase over last year’s projections, according to a retail trade group survey released Thursday.
Nearly 60 million Americans plan to hit the stores, more than last year’s forecast of 57 million, while an additional 78 million might join the crowds of shoppers this year if the bargains are good enough, the National Retail Federation said. Get the full story »
Sears 3Q loss widens on weaker sales
Sears Holdings Corp. reported a larger quarterly loss, citing tepid sales of apparel and appliances at its namesake department stores.
The company, which also operates Kmart discount stores, said its net loss widened to $218 million, or $1.98 a share, in the third quarter ended on Oct. 30 from $127 million, or $1.09 a share, a year earlier. Sales at the company, led by hedge fund manager Edward Lampert, fell about 5 percent to $9.68 billion. Get the full story »
Best Buy jumps into free shipping fray
Best Buy has joined the free-shipping wars, offering the lure on many online orders for the holidays. Best Buy says hundreds of thousands of items are included. Some items such as Apple Inc.’s iPads, video game consoles and major appliances are not.
General Growth to take charge for Hughes spinoff
General Growth Properties Inc., which emerged from bankruptcy last week, said it expects to take a $537 million noncash charge in connection with the spinoff of the Howard Hughes Corp. Get the full story »
Black Friday forecast: Cool, clear … and green
Macy's CEO Terry J. Lundgren, in the Holiday Lane section of Macy's department store in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Cooler weather and clear skies should help boost U.S. sales on Black Friday, the post-Thanksgiving kickoff to the holiday shopping season, a consulting firm said Tuesday.
An expected cold snap will spur consumers to buy more sweaters, scarves and boots, according to Planalytics Inc., a consulting firm that provides research for companies such as Kohls Corp. and Rite Aid Corp. Get the full story »
Yahoo to aggregate online deals, including Groupon
Yahoo! is jumping into the online deals space with a new program called Local Offers that aggregates deals from a number of companies, including Chicago-based Groupon.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said it wants to be “the largest and most comprehensive repositories of local offers on the Internet.” With the explosion of daily deal sites following Groupon’s success, a number of deal aggregator start-ups have also emerged. Yahoo! is aiming for an even broader scope by signing up companies specializing in direct mail marketing, such as Valpak. Get the full story »
