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Championship season seen for sports logo goods

Demand for jerseys, caps, video games, toasters and other items with sports logos has been a winner this year, and teams and leagues expect that streak to continue into the holiday season even with unemployment still high.

“If your team is winning and you’re excited about it, you want to be a part of it,” said Stu Crystal, vice president of consumer products for Major League Soccer. “It makes them forget about worrying if they’re going to lose their job or their houses went down in value and how they’re going to pay the mortgage.” Get the full story »

FedEx sees holiday shipping up 11%, Dec. 13 peak

FedEx Corp.  expects its busiest day in company history to be Dec. 13 as consumer activity peaks in a holiday shipping season the shipper projects to be about 11 percent bigger than last year.

Shares rose on the news but were still down 14 cents at $88.34 in recent trading on broader market declines. Get the full story »

Penney forms unit to handle new niche brands

J.C. Penney Co. has formed a new business unit that will focus on niche brands as it seeks new sources of revenue beyond its namesake department store chain.

The first two projects of the division, Growth Brands, will be launched in partnership with Hearst Magazines next summer. Get the full story »

Amazon no longer selling guide for pedophiles

Amazon is no longer selling a self-published guide for pedophiles. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Amazon.com Inc. had pulled the item, or whether the author withdrew it. Amazon did not immediately return messages Thursday.

US approves Simon Property’s buy of Prime Outlets

US antitrust regulators approved Simon Property Group’s purchase of Prime Outlets on Wednesday on condition that it sell an outlet center in Ohio and remove restrictions on some tenant leases in Chicago and Orlando. Get the full story »

Wal-Mart offering free shipping for holidays

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is going for the jugular in the holiday retailing war, announcing Thursday that it will offer free shipping on nearly 60,000 online items — with no minimum purchase requirement. Get the full story »

Walgreens moves to reinstate Glencoe druggists

After a letter-writing and e-mail campaign on their behalf by hundreds of Glencoe residents, two respected druggists appear to have hung onto their jobs.

Steven Feinerman and Eddie Levin have worked at Parkway Drugs for years — Feinerman as owner and Levin as a pharmacist. When residents found out that Walgreens had agreed to buy the store but had no plans to retain the men, they took the offensive on their behalf.

Kohl’s misses estimates with steady 3Q earnings

Kohl’s Corp. said Wednesday that it earned almost the same amount in this year’s third quarter as last year’s, though its revenue rose, because its costs rose faster.

The department store operator said after the market closed that it earned $194 million, or 63 cents per share, in the period ended Oct. 30, about even with the $193 million, or 63 cents per share, a year earlier. Get the full story »

Consumer Reports says ‘happy’ back in holidays

It looks like Scrooge will have time on his hands this Christmas.

At least, that is the word from Consumer Reports, which reports that the holidays are getting happier.

Indeed, 40 percent of adults say they expect the upcoming holiday season to be “happier” than last year’s, according to the Consumer Reports National Research Center, a unit of Consumers Union, a watchdog organization. Get the full story »

General Growth eyes dividend; Hughes trades

General Growth Properties plans to resume paying dividends early next year, after the second-largest U.S. mall operator emerged from bankruptcy and spun off a new company, Howard Hughes Corp.

Citing a higher-than-expected cash stake, General Growth also said it expects to retire $570 million of obligations by paying cash, avoiding the potential issuance of more than 50 million common shares. Get the full story »

Macy’s returns to profit amid local push

Macy’s Inc. said Wednesday it turned a profit in the third quarter after a loss a year ago, boosted by tailoring merchandise to local markets and higher spending from wealthier customers at its Bloomingdale’s chain. Get the full story »

General Growth exits bankruptcy

General Growth Properties Inc , the second-largest U.S. mall operator, said it has emerged from bankruptcy, one and a half years after becoming the biggest U.S. real estate company to seek Chapter 11 protection.

The Chicago-based operator of 183 shopping malls in 43 U.S. states said Tuesday it emerged from under protection from creditors after obtaining $6.8 billion of new capital and restructuring about $15 billion of debt.

General Growth operates properties, including the Ala Maona Center in Hawaii, Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, Harborplace in Baltimore and Water Tower Place in Chicago. Get the full story »

Trade group forecast: Electronics hot for holidays

Consumers will spend more this holiday on electronics than they have in each of the last 17 years, with laptops and Apple’s iPad topping wish lists, a leading industry trade group said Tuesday.

The average consumer will spend $232 on electronics gifts from TVs and MP3 players to cameras this year, up 5 percent from last year, according to a holiday phone survey of 1,003 U.S. adults conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association. Get the full story »

Whirlpool opens showcase center downtown

Whirlpool Corp., hoping to spur sales of its appliances to designers and architects, is opening on Tuesday a showcase center in downtown Chicago called “The World of Whirlpool.’’

Josh Gitlin, Whirlpool sales director of training and development, said the idea is to show products in action to designers, architects and the media year around, without having to wait for trade shows where the company might only get a few minutes with potential customers. Get the full story »

Amazon to buy Diapers.com owner for $500M

Expanding its online retail empire, Amazon.com Inc. said Monday that it is buying Quidsi, the owner of Diapers.com and Soap.com, for $500 million in cash.