Tag: shopping

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Bricks-and-mortar sales edge lower at start of holiday season; online surges: data

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Bricks-and-mortar sales edge lower at start of holiday season; online surges: data

Reuters

(Reuters) – U.S. shoppers spent slightly less money at brick-and-mortar stores on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday than across the same two days in 2013, while online sales surged to record highs, data showed on Saturday.

Sales at retail stores totaled about $12.29 billion on Thursday and Friday, down 0.5 percent from the $12.35 billion spent last year, according to estimates by ShopperTrak. The research firm stuck by its forecast for November and December sales to increase 3.8 percent.

The data highlights the waning importance of Black Friday, which until a few years ago kicked off the holiday shopping season, as more retailers open their doors on Thanksgiving Day and start discounting earlier in the month.

It also points to the intense price competition among retailers, which have been discounting by 40 to 70 percent this year compared with 30 to 50 percent in the recent past, ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin told Reuters.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/bricks-mortar-sales-edge-lower-start-holiday-season-000828754–business.html

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Retailers offer apps, Wi-Fi for Black Friday shopping

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Retailers offer apps, Wi-Fi for Black Friday shopping

November 27, 2014    Last updated: Thursday, November 27, 2014, 8:30 PM
By JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER |
The Record

This Black Friday, which actually begins tonight, on Thanksgiving, getting shoppers to reach for their smartphones is almost as important to retailers as getting them to reach for their wallets.

While retailers spent the beginning of this week engaged in some of the traditional preparations for Thanksgiving night and Black Friday — stocking shelves, having door-buster specials stacked and ready to go in backrooms and warehouses, unpacking merchandise — some of the most important advance work for this weekend began right after Black Friday 2013, when retailers realized they needed to make it easier to shop by phone.

The country’s largest retailers are greeting customers this weekend with new or upgraded mobile apps that perform functions such as steering them through the store to find a specific item; comparison shopping for them and issuing a refund if they didn’t get the best price; and letting them scan for discounts while shopping.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/stores-get-more-connected-1.1142597

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Panel discusses ways to energize Bergen County downtowns

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Panel discusses ways to energize Bergen County downtowns

OCTOBER 16, 2014    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2014, 1:48 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Ridgewood, Fairview, Hackensack and Paramus may have very different community identities, but they do have one thing in common: They all care about the development of their economic centers.

This was clear when officials representing each of these communities spoke on a Bergen Community College panel on Oct. 7 about the challenges and triumphs they have encountered during ongoing efforts to support their economic centers.

The discussion, titled “Reviving and Refocusing Suburban Downtowns and Regional Economic Centers,” attracted about 40 attendees, many from the Bergen LEADS leadership course.

On the panel were retired Fairview Police Chief Frank Del Vecchio, a Ridgewood resident and Fairview Chamber of Commerce member; Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce President Paul Vagianos; Paramus Regional Chamber of Commerce President Fred Rohdieck; and Hackensack Chamber of Commerce member Francis Reiner, the community’s urban design, planning and redevelopment consultant.

The forum was meant to explore how changing demographics are affecting distinct Bergen County municipalities’ economic centers, and in turn, their “community identities,” which are often shaped by these economic hubs.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/business-leaders-agree-rising-tide-lifts-all-boats-1.1111089#sthash.VbU6ZXv4.dpuf

 

Next Village of Ridgewood CBD Discussion Meeting – October 29 at 7PM

Wednesday, October 29th the Village Hall Court Room, 131 N. Maple Ave, from 7PM to 9PM – the conversation will continue regarding the Ridgewood CBD. There will an opportunity for comments from attendees and at 7:30PM a Panel will discuss the role of arts in the Central Business District.