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MARKETING NEWS Direct mail with mobile features is changing holiday shopping ................................................. 2

A third of small town Americans rely solely on traditional media for news .............................. 3

Traditional Christmas card remains firm favorite in US and UK ............................................... 5

Mobile and print intersect in a new catalog app ......................................................................... 6

PUBLISHING NEWS Magazines ramp up publishing in 2012 ...................................................................................... 7

Hearst puts a toe back in trade publishing … ............................................................................. 8

More tablet owners prefer yearly magazine subscriptions ......................................................... 9

Turning traditional magazines into “Social Hubs” ................................................................... 10

POSTAL NEWS Pitney Bowes to help modernize thousands of US post offices................................................ 12

Green light for revised USPS Standard Mail Flats rate rise ..................................................... 13

FedEx battles through record package shipping day ................................................................ 14

RETAIL NEWS Sephora to open 50 stores in Latin America by 2016 ............................................................... 15

Restoration Hardware swings to profit in Q3 ........................................................................... 15

Office Depot to celebrate new store concept in Denver ........................................................... 16

BBY founder close to purchasing company ............................................................................. 16

ECONOMIC UPDATE

GDP: 3rd

quarter 2012: 2.7 percent

Unemployment Rate: the unemployment rate edged down to 7.7 percent in November.

Consumer Confidence: which had increased in October, posted a moderate increase in

November. The Index now stands at 73.7, up from 73.1 in October.

December 17th

, 2012

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MARKETING NEWS

Direct Mail with Mobile Features Is Changing Holiday Shopping

Press Release , Printing Impressions . 12/11/2012

Direct mail remains a medium of choice for holiday shoppers and marketers alike. And enhanced with mobile and Web technologies, such as Quick-Response (QR) codes, personalized URLs and augmented reality, it’s engaging consumers like never before.

“Long lauded for its ability to provide consumers with personalized and tangible information about products, promotions and sales, today’s direct mail, combined with Web technologies and smartphone apps, is offering holiday shoppers a media-rich experience that connects with them on a deeper, more personal level,” according to Gary Reblin, vice president, Domestic Products, U.S. Postal Service.

“Direct mail that includes personalized QR codes or personalized URLs, which link consumers to individualized discounts and special invites—usually with their names —tells recipients that the retailer knows who they are and what they want,” added Reblin.

Direct mail enhanced with augmented reality (AR) technology allows shoppers to view products from all angles or interact with 3D-embedded videos and animations.

“People love the idea of being able to demo a product before they make a purchase, and now they don’t have to leave home to do it,” continued Reblin.

Circulars and catalogs always have motivated customers to get to the store, and now they are driving consumers online to make purchases. According to Reblin, an increasing number of mobile-enabled circulars and catalogs will be the launching point for many holiday purchases this season.

“More and more retailers are creating mobile-optimized sites for their direct mail campaigns to allow their customers to shop whenever and wherever they are,” he said.

Direct mail also can do double duty. Retailers now are incorporating digital coupons—which can be saved on a mobile device—into their hard copy mail. If a consumer prefers to visit a brick and mortar location to purchase a product and realizes on the way that a coupon was left at home, there’s no need to turn around; a digital coupon can be downloaded from the mail when it’s received.

Today, 34 percent of smartphone users have made a purchase using a mobile phone compared to 19 percent in 2011 (source: DC Financial Insights, 2012). That number will rise as technology continues to evolve.

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One technology gaining traction is image recognition (IR), which allows a consumer with a smartphone to scan a picture of a shirt in a catalog and be connected immediately to mobile shopping features. Also on the rise are smartphones enabled with near field communications (NFC), allowing the user to simply tap the device on a printed page to make a purchase—without an app.

“As more and more consumers become aware of mobile technologies, use will grow and shopping from a catalog and a smartphone will become as commonplace as driving to a store is today,” said Reblin.

“Although consumers are becoming familiar with this technology, one thing I still recommend to retailers is to devote some of their direct mail real estate to consumer tips on downloading apps and barcode readers,” he added. “Customers will appreciate the information, and the effort will help build brand loyalty.”

A Third of Small Town Americans Rely Solely On Traditional Media for News

Staff Writer , Print In The Mix . 12/10/2012

Small town and rural residents are more likely to rely solely on traditional forms of media for their local news than those in larger cities and suburbs. Three in 10 residents (34%) in less populated areas rely exclusively on traditional sources of information such as print newspaper and local television broadcasts (31% and 34%, respectively), compared with 21% of residents of large cities and 16% of those living in suburban communities.

Close to half of urban (45%) and suburban (51%) residents use a combination of traditional, online and mobile local news media to get their local news, compared with 38% of those living in small cities and 27% of rural residents.

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Urban residents tend to use online sources of local information such as internet searches, Twitter, blogs, and websites of TV and newspapers. Rural residents, in contrast, are the least likely to look to online sources of local news, "not surprising, given their lower tech use relative to other populations," and more likely to depend on print newspapers and broadcast TV news and word of mouth, finds Pew.

Urban residents’ "reliance on a greater number and diversity of local news sources may result from the fact that urbanites tend to be younger and more tech savvy than their rural counterparts," reports Pew. Although internet use is widespread across residents of all community types, residents of large cities and suburbs are more likely to use the internet and be social media users.

Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Local News Survey, How people get local news and information in different communities (Sept. 26, 2012), accessed December 10, 2012.

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Traditional Christmas card remains firm favourite in US and UK

Staff Writer , Post & Parcel . 12/12/2012

In the United States around 1.6bn Christmas cards will be purchased this year, with the US Greeting Card Association stating that sales are increasing year-on-year.

The Association says sales of greeting cards have fluctuated over the last several years, but the industry is anticipating a “healthy future” despite the rise of social media, because traditional cards are seen as more personal.

“The widespread use of social media has increased the value of connection, adding a new dimension to how people communicate,” said GCA executive vice president Patti Stracher, “but greeting cards continue to play an invaluable role in our social culture.”

Americans send around 140m individual Christmas cards a year – a segment worth around $427m in sales each year – with the remainder bought in box sets.

The GCA said some of the current trends in Christmas Cards this year is an increasing personalisation of cards including images highlighting a sender’s location, the use of embellishments including decoration and music or sound chips, and cards that serve multiple purposes – designs that can be part of a home holiday decor or an ornament on a Christmas tree.

UK

In the UK, a new survey from Pitney Bowes suggests that 85% of people prefer a “real” Christmas card.

The mailroom giant said its poll of 1,080 consumers found that only 6% felt electronic “e-cards” were preferable because they thought they were better for the environment, while 2% didn’t like the “clutter” of Christmas cards.

“It seems we’re still traditionalists at heart, which is rather cheering to know at this time of year,” said Simon Martindill, head of marketing for Pitney Bowes Global Mailing Solutions.

The Pitney Bowes study is in line with research from Royal Mail, which this month suggests the average Brit will be sending 19 Christmas cards this year, up 27% on last year.

The study involving 2,000 people found that a 80% of people prefer a traditional card to greetings sent through social media, which they suggested “impersonal”.

Sharon Little, chief executive of the Greeting Card Association, said: “Christmas is all about caring, sending real cards to friends and family is far more meaningful than any form of electronic communication.”

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Mobile and print intersect in a new catalog app

Bill Siwicki , Internet Retailer . 12/11/2012

Ballard Designs Inc., a retailer of European-inspired home furnishings and accessories, is infusing its print catalog with some mobile commerce magic, enabling consumers to shop the catalog with their iPhones or iPads.

The Ballard+ app uses mobile image recognition and augmented reality technologies called VisualCommerce, from Marxent Labs LLC, to connect a print catalog to the digital world. A consumer launches the app and holds her device above the print catalog, pointing the device’s camera at the page. On screen, the app outlines products on the page with a white box and places a checkmark in the middle. The consumer touches a box and the app displays a window with the name of the product and six buttons: Add to Cart, Add to Favorites, More Views, Reviews, Details and Share.

She then can see more pictures of the product; read customer reviews; get more product information; share the product along with a comment on Facebook, Twitter or e-mail; or add it to her cart, where she can purchase the product.

“Our customers not only look to the Ballard catalog for home décor and accessories, but also for design inspiration and ideas. The Ballard+ app enhances the experience of flipping through the catalog each month by simply integrating a mobile device,” says Ryan McKelvey, president of Ballard Designs. “Having the functionality of our online channels directly available with our print catalog creates an ease of use that will provide an innovative, digital experience for our customers.”

Ballard+ is compatible with iPhone 4/4S and 5, as well as iPad 2, iPad with Retina Display, and iPad mini. The free app will work with the Ballard Designs December 2012 Early Winter issue, with more to be added in the future.

Ballard Designs prints 50 million catalogs a year, the company says. It is a unit of Cornerstone Brands, which is owned by HSN Inc., No. 14 in the Internet Retailer Mobile 400.

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PUBLISHING NEWS

Magazines ramp up publishing in 2012

Matthew Flamm , Crain's New York Business . 12/11/2012

Magazine publishers are still tightening their belts three years after the nightmare of the advertising recession shook the industry to its toes. But the itch to launch new magazines shows no sign of going away.

In 2012, veteran publishers and novice entrepreneurs launched a total of 195 print titles, a healthy bump over the 181 that were launched in 2011. And only 74 titles folded this year, compared to 142 a year ago, according to MediaFinder.com. The online database of U.S. and Canadian publications released its year-end numbers Monday.

MediaFinder also counted 32 digital-only launches in 2012, compared to 58 a year ago. Seven digital-only titles folded, compared to 10 in that category last year.

The drop in the number of new online magazines was a sign of the difficulty publishers have had making money from digital publications, according to Trish Hagood, president of MediaFinder.

There were also 24 print titles, most notably Newsweek and Spin, that fell into the netherworld of digital-only publication. Last year, however, 29 magazines went from print to digital-only.

This year's new print titles include Rodale's Best Life, the upscale men's magazine that the publisher folded in 2009 yet resurrected in August. In the category of titles for the 1% it was joined by Du Jour, from longtime luxury magazine impresario Jason Binn, who once ran Niche Media.

Among the closures were American Artist and Martha Stewart's Whole Living.

"It's encouraging that we still have print [launches]," Ms. Hagood said. "But we are in a transition period."

Publishers still get most of their advertising revenue from print advertising, and have struggled to grow digital ad revenue. But launches are not always about business. Some first-time entrepreneurs see paper and ink as carrying more weight and substance than a website and prefer to go that route regardless of higher costs.

"They have a passion," Ms. Hagood said, "and you can't stop them."

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Hearst Puts a Toe Back in Trade Publishing

Jim Milliot , Publishers Weekly . 12/10/2012

Ever since Hearst Corp. sold William Morrow to News Corp. in 1999, its book publishing activities have focused on partnering with different houses to publish books based on content from its magazines. That strategy will change January 2 when Hearst releases 7 Years Younger: The Revolutionary 7-Week Anti-Aging Plan under the new 7YY/Hearst Magazines imprint. Now in a third printing with 72,000 copies before publication, the book is the cornerstone of a new franchise devoted to helping baby boomers and others look and feel younger.

The 7YY program originated when Good Housekeeping, responding to the hundreds of anti-aging creams and lotions being introduced, began a 7 Years Younger column in 2010. The column proved so popular that other Hearst magazines began carrying their own 7 Years Younger page, and, according to Good Housekeeping editor-in-chief Rosemary Ellis, it quickly became apparent that the company had an asset that could be developed into a variety of different formats. While the book, priced at $25.99, carries the 7YY brand, it features all new content developed at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute. The institute created what amounts to a best practices guide in seven areas: skin care, cosmetics, hair care, nutrition and diet, exercise, and emotional health.

To promote the book, Hearst is using its subscriber database to directly market the title through a variety of online and digital initiatives, the first time it has backed a book with a direct digital sales approach. Jacqueline Deval, v-p, publisher, Hearst Books (she oversaw the development of the book as well as the launch of the direct marketing sales channel), said both the creation of 7 Years Younger and the marketing program have been “deeply collaborative efforts” involving various Hearst properties. January and February issues of Good Housekeeping will feature anti-aging tips from the book, and advice from the book will also appear in Woman’s Day, Redbook, and Country Living with a footer pointing to the availability of the book. Editors’ letters will also appear in the February edition of Good Housekeeping and the January Redbook. Ads are also set for those magazines as well as for digital editions of those publications that will tout the availability of 7 Years Younger as an e-book, which will be available on all platforms for $14.99.

The 7yearsyounger.com Web site was launched November 15; in addition to content from the book, it includes a sales splash page with links to about 50 retailers that sell the print book and e-book. Minisites are also being created on the sites of Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Redbook, and Country Living that refer to the 7YY splash page.

The social media component includes promoting the book on the already established 7YY Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest sites. To get bloggers and others interested in the project, Hearst is also giving away books and providing them with anti-aging content.

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Five or six additional books are planned for the 7YY imprint, which will be distributed by the Hachette Book Group. The next two books, The 7 Years Younger Diet along with a companion 7 Years Younger Diet Workbook, are set for fall 2013. Mark Gompertz, who joined Hearst as creative director, content extensions, for Hearst Magazines after leaving Simon & Schuster, is overseeing the trade launch for the book, and he and Deval are working on the marketing strategy for the additional titles. Those marketing plans will likely include a direct channel since, Deval said, Hearst sees the direct channel “as an important growing component of our business sales mix, complementing trade sales, digital sales, and sales to specialty markets.”

As for what other 7 Years Younger products may be forthcoming, Hearst officials said they are in discussions with a number of partners but have nothing to announce at the moment.

More Tablet Owners Prefer Yearly Magazine Subscriptions

TJ Raphael , Folio . 12/14/2012

At MPA Digital’s Social Media Summit Thursday, Ethan Grey, vice president of digital with the association, revealed results from its latest study slated to be released in January.

The data, which was conducted with Gfk MRI and surveyed 796 adults aged 18-plus who owned a tablet, shows that in general, tablet owners prefer to buy yearly subscriptions to digital magazines. About 56 percent of respondents prefer to purchase a one-year subscription, 31 percent prefer to buy monthly subscriptions, 11 percent normally buy half-year subscriptions and just 2 percent prefer multi-year subscriptions.

When asked about the type of digital magazine content they prefer, more than half—55 percent—say they read current and back issues. The remaining 45 percent prefer to only read the most current issues.

“This is an avenue for increased dollars in revenue for magazines,” Grey said.

Additionally, respondents find the price of digital magazines to be fairly reasonable—about 49 percent said they “agree somewhat” that pricing of digital magazines is fair.

When it comes to bundling, 34 percent of respondents “somewhat agree” that they are only interested in a digital subscription if it comes with a free print subscription. The second highest group of respondents—30 percent—“somewhat disagree” when asked if they are only interested in a digital subscription if it comes with a free print subscription.

Many respondents (44 percent) say they “somewhat agree” that the automatic downloading of their magazine subscriptions is convenient. About 36 percent “strongly agree.”

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When it comes to loading times, 59 percent say they “somewhat agree” that the time it takes to download a magazine app is reasonable, with 27 percent saying they “strongly agree.”

The all-you-can-eat magazine model of Next Issue Media, said Grey, could become more popular, at least based on this data: 27 percent of respondents “strongly agree” when asked if they like having the ability to pay a flat subscription fee for a large library of magazines. About 46 percent “somewhat agree.”

When rating five digital newsstands, respondents thought most highly of Apple, with 90.8 percent saying the Apple Newsstand is excellent or good. When it comes to a browsing experience for new titles, Apple tied with Barnes & Noble’s Nook at 81 percent.

More information on digital magazine reader preferences will be released this January by the MPA.

Turning Traditional Magazines into “Social Hubs”

Alex Mutter , Publishing Perspectives . 12/10/2012

“As a publisher, the reader is your most valuable asset,” said Jonathan Harris, CEO and co-founder of netizeen, as he talked about his past experience as a traditional publisher. “The reader was always left on the table, and leaving the reader on the table is, honestly, leaving money on the table.”

Netizeen, a new tablet-based app that went into open beta late last month, allows users to read their favorite magazines while commenting, favoriting, rating and conversing, all in realtime. While that may ostensibly sound similar to the slew of social reading apps available on all manner of mobile operating systems, Harris insists that what netizeen is doing is indeed different, and very important to magazine publishers.

“Everyone always says they’re doing something different,” said Harris, laughing, in a phone interview. “But really, we are. We are totally focused on the audience. We’re not getting into the format conversation, we’re not getting into the content layer conversation. We are about building an audience around a demographic — a content interest. Publishers already have a social network, it’s just unconnected.”

Netizeen’s driving goal is to activate that dormant network, through a bevy of realtime social features embedded in the pages of digital magazines. One of netizeen’s draws is that it offers a single, seamless interface for readers: users can switch from commenting on a feature in magazine A to reading an interview in magazine B without exiting the app or even switching usernames. Regardless of the digital page being displayed, the social interface and overlay are constant.

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Enhancing the Editor-Reader Relationship

And perhaps netizeen’s most promising feature is its potential for increased communication not just between readers, but between editors and readers.

“There’s no separate interface for editors,” Harris explained. “They just pick up their iPad and get involved.”

Through netizeen’s social features, Harris imagines that editors could transform the relationship between editors and readers from a one-to-many relationship into a plethora of one-on-one relationships. Proactive editorial teams could make their magazines not only containers of content, but also hubs around which people can connect. And it is those teams, Harris believes, who will have the greatest longevity.

Although it is not yet available in the beta, netizeen plans to roll out groups and event functionality in the near future, as well as a location check-in feature. These features will allow users to start conversations and discussions outside of the live wall — netizeen’s main level for interaction — as well as plan real-world events and meetups.

Right now, though, netizeen’s focus is on realtime connections between individuals. Said Harris: “Before we give everybody that smorgasbord of features, let’s make sure they’re talking to each other.”

Magazines are “social networks waiting to be unlocked”

When I asked Harris how netizeen was meant to work with magazine publishers who may already have their own social apps or differing mobile strategies, he acknowledged that it was a tricky spot to be in. But he stressed that netizeen was developed with simplicity in mind — simple to use, and simple for publishers to adopt.

“Our proposition is that what if enrichment isn’t the long play,” said Harris. “What if magazines are really great social networks waiting to be unlocked? Publishers should be able to do this concurrently with whatever else they’re doing.”

Harris once again brought up his background as a publisher while discussing netizeen’s ease of adoption. As a publisher, he said, he needed to know three things when it came to a new publishing platform: how much would he need to replace, how much would he need to invest up front, and how well would it co-exist with current strategies. With netizeen, Harris says he strove to answer all of those questions, and keep each answer as simple as possible.

Generating “Meaty Data” for Publishers

While netizeen uses HTML5, it demands no significant technical investment from publishers. The vast majority of publishers, Harris surmised, already have and use the PDF format; netizeen converts those files for the publisher. The service is cheap for publishers

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to use, and it consumes what they are already producing, requiring no significant changes to production systems. Harris also wanted netizeen to provide publishers with a valuable asset that they would otherwise not get.

“No matter what publishers are doing,” Harris argued, “they’re not getting social data. They’re not getting it from Facebook, Apple, whoever. They’re not getting the meaty data.”

Netizeen both generates and packages that “meaty data” for publishers and advertisers.

At the moment, netizeen supports only the new iPad and the iPad 2. Harris expects that bringing the app to the iPad Mini shouldn’t be a problem. He was more cautious about providing a date for netizeen’s expansion to Android devices, giving a conservative estimate of early January 2013. Harris explained: “the ubiquity of HTML5 is a bit of myth. All devices, all browsers have their own issues.”

Harris also suggested that a rethinking of the magazine was in order. Rather than think of the magazine as an imperiled, legacy publishing format, one should think of it as something that could completely thrive in the digital age. “Magazines are superb content verticals, but they’re not getting the attention that they need. People are too distracted by the operating system, the file format.”

“This is a proposition that no one’s explored,” said Harris, of the magazine’s social potential. “We want to experiment with that – let editorial teams connect with their audiences. Let the audience evolve that conversation. We’re betting that a social experience embedded on the page has real potential traction.”

It remains to be seen, but Jonathan Harris could certainly be right.

POSTAL NEWS

Pitney Bowes to help modernise thousands of US post offices

Staff Writer , Post & Parcel . 12/14/2012

The company said the six-year contract providing support and maintenance for its network of postal meters also includes provision of systems and support to meet the US Joint Military Postal Command’s needs both nationally and internationally.

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Pitney Bowes, the world’s largest mail technology and services company, said it will be standardizing its meter systems across the US for the Postal Service, using a “singly leading edge system”.

This will include an automatic electronic ordering and invoicing system, implemented nationwide to reduce manual processes.

“We are extremely pleased to be able to provide the U.S. Postal Service with precisely the automated technology it requires to meet the needs of today’s retail customer as well as the men and women of the military,” said Pat Brand, President, North American Mailing, Pitney Bowes.

Green light for revised USPS Standard Mail Flats rate rise

Staff Writer , Post & Parcel . 12/12/2012

USPS had suggested the Postal Regulatory Commission was going a little further than its remit when it rejected its original proposals last month, and demanded an above-average price rise for the rate category that includes items like catalogues.

Under protest, USPS went away and proposed a fresh rate increase, which yesterday was approved by the regulators.

As approved, Standard Mail Flats rates will increase by an average of 2.617% as of 27th January, 2013.

This compares to a 2.61% increase for Standard Mail Letters, a 3.081% increase for Standard Mail Parcels, a 2.059% increase for Standard Mail High Density Letters and a 2.092% increase for Standard Mail High Density Flats and Parcels.

USPS is changing other prices as well from next month, as approved by the Commission earlier this month.

Take Two

The Postal Regulatory Commission rejected last month’s original proposal for a 2.57% increase in Standard Mail Flats prices because it said the Postal Service did not demonstrate it was making progress towards completely covering the costs of the loss-making service.

The regulator had issued an order to the Postal Service back in 2010 to work towards recouping the Flats service losses, since under US postal law USPS is supposed to ensure full cost coverage for its monopoly portfolio products.

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USPS, which has attempted to avoid excessive price increases for fear of driving catalogue companies out of business or toward alternative distribution channels, argued last month that it was making progress towards full cost coverage by working to cut the service’s operating costs. However, the Commission said it wanted a higher cost increase.

Approving the revised pricing, the regulator said yesterday: “The Commission finds that an above-average price increase for Standard Mail Flats is expected to improve cost coverage more than the initially proposed below-average increase.”

Prompt decisions

Today saw the Commission’s chairman, Ruth Goldway, criticised USPS for its “reluctance” to adopt Standard Mail Flats rates in line with the Commission’s 2010 order.

She said that the Postal Service’s actions meant mailers now had less time to prepare for the rate changes.

“I am committed to facilitating prompt decisions from the Commission in response to requests for price adjustments from the Postal Service,” Goldway chided USPS, “In turn I expect the Postal Service to respond to clear orders of the Commission by preparing price adjustments that satisfy (US postal law) requirements in a manner that provides adequate lead time for adoption by the industry.”

FedEx battles through record package shipping day

Staff Writer , Post & Parcel . 12/10/2012

The Memphis-based integrator has 300,000 staff supported by 20,000 seasonal personnel today, handling more than 200 packages per second.

Increased online shopping activity is directly fueling a 10% year-on-year increase in volumes, the company said.

Most of these Internet purchases will be delivered via the FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost networks, the latter in partnership with the US Postal Service.

FedEx cited market research firm eMarketer in suggesting that online holiday sales are set to climb 17% this year compared to the same festive period in 2011.

Today alone – what eBay describes as “Green Monday” because it is the biggest shopping day of the year – US consumers are predicted to spend $1.1bn online.

Michael Glenn, the FedEx executive vice president of Market Development, said his company had been preparing for almost a year for its peak season.

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“The spirit and drive of our team members, backed by the efficiency of our networks, will help us delivered what we expect will be a record-breaking 280m packages through our global networks between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” he said.

Last year FedEx had a peak of 17.2m shipments on its busiest day, 12th December. Its peak has grown each year since recording a 9.8m-item peak in 2005.

This year, Fedex has more than 90,000 vehicles and 660 aircraft deployed to handle the flood of packages, along with more than 660 FedEx Express and 520 Fedex Ground facilities in the United States and its World Hub in Memphis sorting 500,000 packages each hour.

FedEx said last minute shoppers still have “plenty of time” to get their shopping done, with the deadline for pre-Christmas delivery in the US set as 17th December for FedEx Ground and 22nd December for FedEx Express delivery.

RETAIL NEWS

Report: Sephora to open 50 stores in Latin America by 2016

Staff Writer , Chain Store Age . 12/12/2012

Sephora plans to open 50 stores in Latin America by 2016, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

Sephora opened its first Latin American store in 2011, in Mexico City. It was followed by locations in Puebla and Guadalajara and another one in Mexico City in 2012. It plans to open an additional five locations in the country in 2013.

It is also expanding in Brazil — the third largest beauty market in the world — with four new stores this year and another six in the pipeline, according to the report.

Restoration Hardware swings to profit in Q3

Staff Writer , Chain Store Age . 12/13/2012

Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. reported Wednesday net income for the third quarter of $1.7 million, compared with a loss of $4.8 million in the year-ago period.

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Revenue rose 22% to $284.2 million and same-store sales surged 29%.

The home furnishings retailer went public in November.

Office Depot to celebrate new store concept in Denver

Marianne Wilson , Chain Store Age . 12/12/2012

Office Depot will celebrate the ‘Office Depot Grand Opening Street Party” on Dec. 15 in downtown Denver. The one-day action sports exhibition was created to showcase Office Depot’s new store concept and kick off the company’s commitment to being one of the sponsors of X Games Aspen 2013.

Interactivity is one of the key features of the new Office Depot stores in Denver, including a PC Bar where people can sit down, plug in their laptop or tablet, and get to work. There is also a computer rental station, free Wi-Fi throughout the store, a recharge station, and free self-serve coffee.

BBY founder close to purchasing company

Staff Writer , Retailing Today . 12/13/2012

Former Best Buy chairman Richard Schulze is reportedly close to reaching an agreement to buy the company he founded, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune report citing a source close to the situation.

The Star Tribune further reported that Schulze's bid would be at least $5 billion to $6 billion, citing the source. Company shares increased to $13.94 in early trading, up 14.5%. Its market value is $4.71 billion. If Schulze's bid is indeed between $5 billion and $6 billion, it would be well below his initial offer in August, which was between $8.16 billion and $8.84 billion.

Best Buy shares have fallen since August. Additionally, Best Buy reported a decline in same-store sales last month, its ninth in the last 10 quarters.

Schulze founded Best Buy in 1966, and is the company’s biggest shareholder, with 20% ownership.