RETAIL & WHOLESALE : View Posts

New York, NY- Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), one of the nation’s largest booksellers and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced the company will be teaming up with American Girl to present “Truly Talented You,” an event for girls ages 8 and up, in all of Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 stores from March 8-15. Through activities, journaling and crafts, this free workshop will help girls learn to recognize, appreciate, and celebrate their own special talents with the help of American Girl’s newest Girl of the Year®, Isabelle Palmer. Isabelle is a dynamic, talented girl who loves dance and fashion design. When Isabelle doubts her skill as a dancer, she uses her love of design to remind herself that everyone’s talents are unique, and a person shouldn’t compare herself to others. Participants will also receive an American Girl poster of Isabelle.

American Girl, a leader in providing top advice books for girls, developed the events using content from the Isabelle book series by award-winning author Laurence Yep and several of their advice and activities books, which have been hugely popular with girls and parents at Barnes & Noble.

“American Girl is dedicated to celebrating the potential of girls ages 3 to 12 with fantastic resources,” said Sarah DiFrancesco, Vice President of Business Development for Barnes & Noble. “We’re thrilled to partner with American Girl on a nationwide event that will encourage girls to develop and celebrate their own special talents—and dream, grow, aspire, create and imagine.”

Space and free promotional items are limited at this event. Parents and girls interested in participating may contact their local store for details on how to sign up. Visit www.bn.com/storelocator for store locations and additional details. Events are free and open to the public. No purchase is required to participate.

Visitors to www.BN.com can also explore the other titles in the American Girl family of insightful books and age-appropriate and educational products, many also available as NOOK Books®.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is a Fortune 500 company and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The company operates 663 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). Its NOOK Media LLC subsidiary is a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets. The NOOK digital business offers award-winning NOOK® products and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store™ (www.nook.com), while Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC operates 696 bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is proud to be named a J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Customer Service Champion and is only one of 50 U.S. companies so named. Barnes & Noble.com is ranked the number one online retailer in customer satisfaction in the book, music and video category and a Top 10 online retailer overall in customer satisfaction according to ForeSee E-Retail Satisfaction Index (Spring Top 100 Edition).

About American Girl
American Girl is a premium brand for girls and a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT, www.mattel.com), the world’s leading toy company. Since its inception in 1986, American Girl has been devoted to celebrating girls ages 3 to 12 through age-appropriate, high-quality dolls and accessories, books, clothes, movies, and unforgettable experiences. Best-selling lines include My American Girl®, Girl of the Year®, Bitty Baby®, and its classic historical characters. Headquartered in Middleton, WI, the company sells products exclusively through its award-winning catalogue, on americangirl.com, and in its experiential retail stores. By inspiring girls to be their best, American Girl has earned the loyalty of millions of girls and the praise and trust of parents and educators.

This Press Release is courtesy of www.barnesandnobleinc.com

MINNEAPOLIS — Target Chief Financial Officer John Mulligan, in testimony before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in Washington, D.C., announced today that the company will be accelerating its implementation of smart card technology designed to dramatically reduce the threat of credit and debit card fraud among guests shopping in its stores.

Mulligan appeared on behalf of Target to discuss the company’s response to the data breach, its efforts to protect its guests and its continued support of industry initiatives to strengthen data security.

During his testimony, Mulligan said Target will equip its proprietary REDcards and all of its store card readers in the U.S. with chip-enabled smart-card technology by the first quarter of 2015, more than six months ahead of previous plans. The accelerated timing is part of a $100 million effort to put in place chip-enabled technology in all of Target’s nearly 1,800 U.S. stores.

“Updating payment card technology and strengthening protections for American consumers is a shared responsibility and requires a collective and coordinated response. On behalf of Target, I am committing that we will be an active part of that solution,” Mulligan said.

In 2012, Target became a founding and steering committee member of the EMV Migration Forum at the Smart Card Alliance, a cross-industry body whose goal is to facilitate the adoption and use of smart card technology.

In Tuesday’s hearing, Mulligan committed to working with the business community and other stakeholders to find effective solutions to the ongoing, pervasive challenge of cyber attacks. “To prevent this from happening, none of us can go it alone,” Mulligan said.

Chip-enabled smart cards contain a tiny microprocessor chip that encrypts the transaction data shared with sales terminals used by merchants. As a result, even if the card number is stolen in a data breach, the thieves cannot counterfeit the card. Similar technology already in use in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia has drastically reduced the incidence of fraud for consumers at physical store locations.

“At Target, we take our responsibilities to our guests very seriously, and this attack has only strengthened our resolve,” Mulligan said in his testimony. “We will learn from this incident and, as a result, we hope to make Target and our industry more secure for consumers in the future.”

This Press Release is courtesy of ww.target.com

Stamford, CT and St. Petersburg, FL – As the retail industry dissects 2013’s holiday shopping results, GE Capital’s Retail Finance business and Kobie Marketing are introducing a new Integrated Multi-Tender Loyalty (IMTL) solution this week that leverages GE Capital Retail Finance’s 80 years of expertise and a leading customer engagement and loyalty technology platform from Kobie Marketing. The IMTL solution brings together credit and non-credit programs, so they no longer compete with each other or exist in parallel.

At a time when retailers look to differentiate themselves and deepen their relationships with their customers, GE Capital Retail Finance and Kobie’s solution aims to bring to market a fresh approach to retail loyalty for all types of merchants.

“Many retailers struggle with a lack of unified loyalty branding and seamless integration between multi-tender and credit programs, resulting in lower engagement levels,” said Toni White, Chief Marketing Officer, GE Capital’s Retail Finance business. “Our integrated multi-tender loyalty solution can help retailers improve their customers’ experience and achieve what consumers are looking for by analyzing the right data and using those insights to personalize offers that create the right emotional connections. Loyalty data—including store-level, SKU, and demographics—can capture the preferences of up to 80% of a retailer’s total shopping base.

GE Capital’s Retail Finance business has developed loyalty programs around credit, which, despite the economic downturn, have helped produce attractive results for retailers. However, many retailers weren’t experiencing the same results with their traditional, standalone loyalty programs. A study of two retailer loyalty programs found inverse results: the retailer with an integrated approach and a strong credit focus had year-over-year growth in member accounts and credit penetration for four years; while the retailer with a standalone loyalty program in isolation from credit had annual decreases in both categories. “Many of our retail clients were asking us to manage “both sides of their loyalty programs,” prompting us to bring an integrated approach and deliver one seamless experience that engages all customers, regardless if it’s through credit,” said White.

Mobile has also changed the way consumers shop and interact with brands, with 40% of Millennials researching products on mobile devices compared to 17% of Boomers. Millennials want to be engaged via their mobile device and are more receptive to messages delivered on this channel (60% visit social sites daily), while customers engaged across multiple channels spend substantially more than in-store only shoppers*.

Powered by Kobie’s Alchemy® technology platform, the IMTL solution delivers a unified credit and loyalty experience to engage the digitally adoptive and mobile-enabled Millennials, as well as traditional credit loyalty card shoppers. By optimizing economics and leveraging smarter customer insights, GE Capital’s Retail Finance business believes the new solution can help brands inspire customer trust and loyalty by delivering personalized offers and great experiences.

“Traditionally, retailers collect data from dozens of sources, but many don’t combine these sets of data to guide their marketing campaigns. If they’re not creating accurate customer profiles or compiling all behavioral insights and data in a central place, retailers are missing opportunities to drive incremental behavior and deliver on customer expectations,” said Michael Hemsey, president of Kobie Marketing. “The Alchemy® platform is scalable and flexible within different POS environments and enables retailers to create better experiences for their customers. We’ve integrated the technology to be available to all of GE Capital Retail Finance’s clients and provide a ‘single view’ of their portfolio,” continued Hemsey.

“As a customer-centric organization, our innovations are designed to put the customers’ needs first,” said White.

GE Capital Retail Finance and Kobie see their integrated solution – a significant advancement in multi-tender loyalty program unity – as delivering a better way for retailers to maximize customer reach, engagement and profitability, while broadening their customer base and overall member satisfaction. Retailers have the opportunity to democratize their loyalty programs while still providing a powerful, visible and integrated credit-holder experience.

“Together, we’re reimagining the future of loyalty, which is about choice, flexibility and personalization,” added Hemsey. “The platform provides the nation’s retailers with a powerful tool that can enhance the value of their loyalty proposition to consumers and change the way they engage and retain customers.”

This Press Release is courtesy of www.GE.com

Today, Target announced updates on our continuing investigation into the recent data breach and our expected fourth quarter financial performance.

New Details about the Data Breach Investigation

As part of Target’s ongoing forensic investigation, it has been determined that certain guest information—separate from the payment card data previously disclosed—was taken from Target. This theft is not a new breach, but was uncovered as part of the ongoing investigation. At this time, the investigation has determined that the stolen information includes names, mailing addresses, phone numbers or email addresses for up to 70 million individuals.

Much of this data is partial in nature, but in cases where Target has an email address, we will attempt to contact affected guests. This communication will be informational, including tips to guard against consumer scams. Target will not ask those guests to provide any personal information as part of that communication. In addition, guests can find the tips at Target.com/databreach, along with updated information in the Data Breach FAQs to help answer questions and provide additional resources.

“I know that it is frustrating for our guests to learn that this information was taken and we are sorry they are having to endure this,” said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Our guests expect more from us and deserve better. And I want them to know that understanding and sharing the facts is important to me and the entire Target team.”

Guests will have zero liability for the cost of any fraudulent charges arising from the breach. To provide further peace of mind, Target is offering one year of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to all Target guests who shopped our U.S stores. Guests will have three months to enroll in the program. Additional details will be shared next week.

We remain focused on addressing our guests’ and team members’ questions and concerns about the data breach. Please continue to check the Data Breach Issues Hub for updates as additional information becomes available.

Update on Fourth Quarter Outlook

The company also provided an update to its expected fourth quarter 2013 financial results. In our U.S. Segment, Target now expects fourth quarter 2013 adjusted EPS of $1.20 to $1.30, compared with prior guidance of $1.50 to $1.60. This outlook anticipates a fourth quarter 2013 comparable sales decline of approximately (2.5%), compared with prior guidance of approximately flat comparable sales. The updated sales expectation reflects stronger-than-expected fourth quarter sales prior to the Company’s Dec. 19, 2013 announcement of a payment card breach, meaningfully weaker-than-expected sales since the announcement, which have shown improvement in the last several days, and a comparable sales decline of (2)% to (6)% for the remainder of the quarter. View the press release to learn more.

Store Closings

After careful consideration of each location’s financial performance, Target also announced today that we plan to close eight U.S. stores on May 3, 2014. The stores affected by this announcement are located in:

West Dundee, Ill.
Las Vegas
North Las Vegas
Duluth, Ga.
Memphis, Tenn.
Orange Park, Fla.
Middletown, Ohio
Trotwood, Ohio
Eligible team members at these stores will be offered an opportunity to transfer to a similar position at a nearby Target location.

This Press Release is courtesy of Target.com

Our investigation into the data breach incident is continuing and ongoing. While we are still in the early stages of this criminal and forensic investigation, we continue to be committed to sharing the facts as they are confirmed.

While we previously shared that encrypted data was obtained, this morning through additional forensics work we were able to confirm that strongly encrypted PIN data was removed. We remain confident that PIN numbers are safe and secure. The PIN information was fully encrypted at the keypad, remained encrypted within our system, and remained encrypted when it was removed from our systems.

To help explain this, we want to provide more context on how the encryption process works. When a guest uses a debit card in our stores and enters a PIN, the PIN is encrypted at the keypad with what is known as Triple DES. Triple DES encryption is a highly secure encryption standard used broadly throughout the U.S.

Target does not have access to nor does it store the encryption key within our system. The PIN information is encrypted within Target’s systems and can only be decrypted when it is received by our external, independent payment processor. What this means is that the “key” necessary to decrypt that data has never existed within Target’s system and could not have been taken during this incident.

The most important thing for our guests to know is that their debit card accounts have not been compromised due to the encrypted PIN numbers being taken.

This Press Release is courtesy of Target.com

“Macy’s has resolved its breach-of-contract lawsuit against Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. We are pleased to be able to put this matter behind us. The terms of our settlement are confidential, will not be disclosed, and are not deemed to be material to Macy’s. We can now return our focus to what we do best – bringing beautifully designed, high quality, affordable products to consumers nationwide. We look forward to a continued, successful partnership together. This settlement does not affect Macy’s outstanding claim against J.C. Penney, which remains subject to the court’s decision.”

Macy’s, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation’s premier retailers, with fiscal 2012 sales of $27.7 billion. The company operates about 840 department stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, as well as the macys.com and bloomingdales.com websites. The company also operates 13 Bloomingdale’s Outlet stores. Bloomingdale’s in Dubai is operated by Al Tayer Group LLC under a license agreement.

All statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Macy’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this release because of a variety of factors, including conditions to, or changes in the timing of, proposed transactions, prevailing interest rates and non-recurring charges, competitive pressures from specialty stores, general merchandise stores, off-price and discount stores, manufacturers’ outlets, the Internet, mail-order catalogs and television shopping and general consumer spending levels, including the impact of the availability and level of consumer debt, the effect of weather and other factors identified in documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This Press Release is courtesy Macys.com

MINNEAPOLIS — December 20, 2013
We are continuing the process of reaching out to guests across a number of channels including traditional and social media. Also, we have begun notifying, via email, those guests whose emails we have and who shopped in our U.S. stores with a credit or debit card during the period of November 27 and December 15. We expect that all emails will be sent by the end of the weekend.

It is very important for our guests to understand that receiving an email from us or a letter from their financial institution is absolutely not an indication that there has been, or will be, fraud on their card.

We continue to experience significantly higher than normal volume to our call centers and REDcard website, causing delays. We are working around the clock to resolve this issue by continually adding capacity both to our call center and technical systems to meet all of our guests’ needs. For example, in the last 24 hours we have quadrupled the capacity of our online REDcard account management site.

To date, we are hearing very few reports of actual fraud, but are closely monitoring the situation. We want to reassure guests that they will not be held financially responsible for any credit card or debit card fraud.

At this time, there is no indication that there has been any impact to PIN numbers. What this means is their bank PIN debit card or Target debit card still has this additional layer of protection. It also means that someone cannot visit an ATM with a fraudulent card and withdraw cash.

We have no indication that the data that was inappropriately accessed included a guest’s date of birth or social security number.

The CVV data that may have been impacted was data in the magnetic strip and NOT the three or four-digit code visible on the card that guests use that would allow someone to make an online purchase.

In addition, we have already alerted all of the networks (Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express) and provided the affected card numbers of guests who may have been impacted. The networks, in turn, are providing the affected card numbers to the financial institutions of our guests via a “batch” or “CAMS alert.” This alert process allows card providers to take steps to enact additional fraud monitoring. For our REDcard holders, in addition to the robust fraud monitoring system we already had in place, we have added additional layers of security and fraud monitoring to their cards.

CEO Gregg Steinhafel released a statement saying: “Yesterday we shared that there was unauthorized access to payment card data at our U.S. stores. The issue has been identified and eliminated. We recognize this has been confusing and disruptive during an already busy holiday season. Our guests’ trust is our top priority at Target and we are committed to making this right.

We want our guests to understand that just because they shopped at Target during the impacted time frame, it doesn’t mean they are victims of fraud. In fact, in other similar situations, there are typically low levels of actual fraud. Most importantly, we want to reassure guests that they will not be held financially responsible for any credit and debit card fraud. And to provide guests with extra assurance, we will be offering free credit monitoring services. We will be in touch with those impacted by this issue soon on how and where to access the service.

We understand it’s been difficult for some guests to reach us via our website and call center. We apologize and want you to understand that we are experiencing unprecedented call volume. Our Target teams are working continuously to build capacity and meet our guests’ needs.

We take this crime seriously. It was a crime against Target, our team members, and most importantly, our guests. We’re in this together, and in that spirit, we are extending a 10% discount – the same amount our team members receive – to guests who shop in U.S. stores on Dec. 21 and 22. Again, we recognize this issue has been confusing and disruptive during an already busy holiday season. We want to emphasize that the issue has been addressed and let guests know they can shop with confidence at their local Target stores.”

Target confirmed it is aware of unauthorized access to payment card data that may have impacted certain guests making credit and debit card purchases in its U.S. stores. Target is working closely with law enforcement and financial institutions, and has identified and resolved the issue.

“Target’s first priority is preserving the trust of our guests and we have moved swiftly to address this issue, so guests can shop with confidence. We regret any inconvenience this may cause,” said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Target. “We take this matter very seriously and are working with law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice.”

Approximately 40 million credit and debit card accounts may have been impacted between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15, 2013. Target alerted authorities and financial institutions immediately after it was made aware of the unauthorized access, and is putting all appropriate resources behind these efforts. Among other actions, Target is partnering with a leading third-party forensics firm to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident.

This Press Release is courtesy of Target.com

NEW YORK, November 12, 2013 –The fiscal month of November got off to a positive start propelled by a number of factors – lower gasoline prices, cold weather and easy sales comparisons – which provided retailers with a healthy uptick in sales. Overall for the week ending November 9, 2013 weekly retail sales increased by 1.2%, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. On a year-over-year basis, the pace of sales rose by 2.3%.

“Sales picked up in the first week of the November sales period as cold weather, lower gasoline prices, an easy comparisons with the Hurricane Sandy and likely some improving employment news all came together to spur demand,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC vice president of research and chief economist. “But even with that said, the ICSC-Goldman consumer holiday tracking survey found that consumers may be holding off their holiday shopping a bit relative to the last two years at the comparable time, possibly waiting for this year’s Thanksgiving week promotions,” Niemira added.

For the month, ICSC Research forecasts an increase of 3.5-4.5% year-over-year gain with a bias on the stronger side due to the easy comparison with November 2012 and added shopping hours on Thanksgiving Day.

Week Ending Index 1977=100 Year/Year Change Weekly Change
09-Nov-13 544.6 2.3% 1.2%
02-Nov-13 538.2 1.9% -0.6%
26-Oct-13 541.6 2.2% -0.4%
19-Oct-13 543.8 3.2% 1.4%

The Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot is produced by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. This index measures U.S. nominal same-store or comparable-store sales excluding restaurant and vehicle demand. The weekly index is constructed as a sales-weighted geometric average growth rate to preserve long-term consistency and is statistically benchmarked to a broad-based monthly retail industry sales aggregate that currently represents a sampling of leading retail chain stores, which also is compiled by ICSC. A representative sample of those major retailers has been used as a control group to extrapolate the weekly sales index. As such, the weekly index statistically represents industry sales and is not just a sum of sales for a handful of retailers. The standard period used for the index is Sunday through Saturday, even though some retailers use a different weekly accounting period. The weekly sales index is presented on an adjusted basis to account for normal seasonality and to counter other data anomalies. Weekly seasonal adjustment is at best difficult for chain store sales given that retailers can and often do shift promotions to counter typical shifts in the calendar. Nonetheless, the approach to weekly seasonal adjustment used follows from the Piser Method, which was popular in the early 1930s and became the standard for weekly adjustment.

Courtesy ICSR PRESS RELEASE

As we approach the Christmas holidays and retailers brace themselves for increased patronage. Online retailers are especially concerned that shipping rates may rise considerably with announcements from DHL, FEDEX and UPS that they intend to increase rates for local shipments within the US.