Barnes & Noble Reports Holiday Comparable Store Sales

Kohl’s announced it will double its earlier announced donation to support relief efforts in response to the severe weather impacting Texas and the Gulf Coast, for a total of a $1 million cash donation to the American Red Cross. In addition, Kohl’s will provide an estimated $1 million in financial support to Kohl’s associates who have been significantly impacted by the storm. “The destruction of the hurricane and its aftermath has continued to escalate day by day,” said Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s chairman, CEO and president. “We feel compelled to increase our donation to the Red Cross to help families across Texas and the Gulf Coast during this time of great need.” Click Read More below for additional detail.

The pages of the 1942 Sears Christmas catalog held much that might seem quaintly old-fashioned today. The department store retailer’s easy payment plan, which could be laid out in a simple grid, has been replaced by sophisticated retail credit cards that offer various rewards and complex terms. The wooden toy tanks and metal fire trucks featured as Christmas toys are far more likely to be made of plastic and make electronic noise today. With World War II raging in Europe and the Pacific, the catalog advertised war bonds and products that could be sent to soldiers and even devoted pages to imploring readers to save spare nails for the federal government. The mere existence of a printed Sears catalog would be just as alien to today’s consumers. The retailer axed the paper catalog in the 1990s and Sears is hardly alone. But the printed catalog isn’t gone. In fact by some measures, in some sectors of retail, it’s thriving. Retailers still mail billions of catalogs every year, and tens of millions of consumers still make purchases based, at least in part, on images and copy printed in catalogs that find their way to mailboxes. Click Read More below for more of the story.

Bauer Publishing, the team behind many of the UK's favourite puzzle magazines including Take a Crossword and the Eclipse franchise, has launched a mixed puzzle magazine containing brain training and traditional puzzles produced exclusively for Asda in partnership with Alzheimer’s Society. Asda Brain Boost is a compilation of memory games, mindfulness pages and classic puzzles to engage both the left and right sides of the brain. The magazine aims to encourage readers to develop and improve their cognitive skills, with beat-the-clock challenges and puzzles with increasing levels of complexity. Exclusively sold in Asda, every Asda Brain Boost sale, priced at £3.50 each, will see 52p donated to Alzheimer’s Society. This magazine represents a real opportunity for readers to both boost their own mental fitness, and help to raise much-needed funds for Alzheimer’s Society’s fundamental work.