Posted at 10:58 AM ET, 01/12/2012
December retail sales mostly flat, with e-commerce a standout
By Olga Khazan
Retail trade remained flat in December from the previous month, according to data from the Commerce Department released Thursday.
The data add to an already mixed picture about the retail sector, suggesting a gradual migration of consumers during the holidays from brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping.
Overall holiday sales, boltered by aggressive discounting, were up — but not as much as last year.
Todays retailers are facing pressure to improve the shopping experience through various channels, according to a study called The SoMoLo Imperative: Social, Mobile, Local Shopping Reaches the Tipping Point, conducted by RedPrairies Commerce in Motion.
The purpose of the research, according to Mobile Commerce News, was to better understand the expectations and behaviors of shoppers who make purchases through those channels, and to benchmark the ways in which merchants are changing their various marketing and selling strategies in order to cater to those customers.
The survey found that retailers are failing to keep up with what SoMoLo consumers are expecting. For example, 46 percent...
Tennessee Commerce Bancorp has missed a regulatory deadline for improving its capital ratios and is now warning investors that it is likely to fail if it is unable to raise fresh capital or find a buyer.
The $1.2 billion-asset company also said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it may have understated its provision for loan losses for the quarter that ended June 30 and that it is conducting a forensic review of its small-ticket specialized equipment leasing portfolio that could force it to restate earnings for 2009 and 2010.
Tennessee Commerces bank unit was deemed to be critically undercapitalized in late October after it booked a $92.6 million loan-loss provision...
DETROIT, Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
Numerous vehicles on display at the 2012 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) tout available laminated glass and/or advanced solar control glass in applications beyond the windshield, reports the Enhanced Protective Glass Automotive Association (EPGAA). Those window positions include driver and passenger side windows, rear windows and roof glass.
New adoptions of laminated glass demonstrate the value that automakers continue to place on the benefits of the product. Since the year 2000, when the technology began to appear on luxury vehicles at NAIAS, laminated glass has been adopted on many additional platforms,...
WESTON, Fla., Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
Weston Area Chamber of Commerce of Weston, FL has been honored with a recognition by South Florida Business Journal in its selection of “Top 25 Chambers Of Commerce.”
Announcing a special recognition appearing in the November, 2011 issue of South Florida Business Journal published by American City Business Journals. Weston Area Chamber of Commerce was selected for the following honor: “Top 25 Chambers Of Commerce.”
A spokesperson from Weston Area Chamber of Commerce commented on the recognition: “This is quite an honor for us. The fact that South Florida Business Journal included...
Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) announced a change in management over the weekend, but it got the cold shoulder from Wall Street on Monday.
RIMs former coCEOs and cochairmen Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie no longer hold those positions. Thorsten Heins is the companys new president and CEO. He was also appointed to RIMs board of directors.
The company named board member Barbara Stymiest its chairperson and, in what might be seen as a sop to institutional investors, added Prem Watsa, CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings. Fairfax is among the top five institutional investors in RIM.
Heins, one of two executives responsible for software, hardware and engineering at RIM, promised...
NEW YORK, Jan 23, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
Fitch Ratings has assigned a ‘BB-’ rating to the proposed USD400 million
unsecured notes due in 2020, to be jointly issued by JBS USA, LLC (JBS
USA) and JBS USA Finance, Inc (JBS USA Finance). The notes will be
guaranteed by JBS S.A. (JBS), JBS Hungary Holdings, JBS USA Holdings,
along with each of the issuers’ wholly-owned U.S. restricted
subsidiaries, subject to certain exceptions.
The proceeds from the bonds issuance will be used by JBS, the Brazilian
company, to repay its short and medium-term debt and for general
corporate purposes. JBS USA and JBS USA Finance...
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
Competition Generates 20,000 Votes on Facebook®
The Universal Technical Institute (UTI) Foundation’s Drive To Succeed Video Competition received entries from around the country. The Drive To Succeed Judging Committee narrowed down the video pool to eight finalists in two categories – Why I Want to be a Technician and Why My High School Auto Shop Needs a Make-Over. The videos were posted on Facebook® for popular voting from January 11-18, 2012, and nearly 20,000 votes were received for the 16 finalists. The UTI Foundation awarded $80,000 in scholarships and prizes to the following Drive To Succeed...
