The Complex Landscape of Holiday Shopping

It's clear that holiday shopping is no longer greatly concentrated on specific days such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday;but is rather a rolling phenomenon beginning after Halloween,with surge points to be sure,but not as pronounced as in the past.A lot of this is due to the proliferation of mobile devices and the ascendance of digital commerce in general.
Over Thanksgiving weekend,103 million consumers shopped online versus 102 million at brick-and-mortar stores,Prosper Insights&Analytics reported to the National Retail Federation.ComScore reported that digital sales on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday totaled four billion dollars,up 20% on the year,and with desktop and mobile bringing in 25% of all sales.Brick-and-mortar sales for the same two days fell a bit on the year to 12.1 billion.
Hudson's Bay Co. CEO Gerald Storch told CNBC that the Thanksgiving period was a pretty good weekend.In North America,Hudson's Bay owns upscale department stores such as Lord&Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue,as well as their associated outlet stores.
On the negative side of digital,online glitches,especially on mobile,are common bugbears and can devastate a retailer's sales figures as impatient consumers bolt for the exits.A lack of enough machines to handle unexpectedly high traffic or new and complex site construction can lead to this pitfall.
Much of the Internet sales was by retailers practicing omnichannel retailing,coordinating their online and in-store business,Mr.Storch said.Although mobile is growing rapidly,many consumers either do not own appropriate phones or just enjoy the Black Friday in-store experience,keeping brick-and-mortar stores relevant even as online purchases grow.*
Macy's (M),Nordstrom Inc (JWN),Hudson's Bay Co (TSX:HBC),(PINX:HBAYF),Amazon (AMZN)

Hudson's Bay Co. Reduces Debt - a good investment now?

On 18 November,the Hudson's Bay Company sold 533 million dollars of equity in its stake of HBS Global Properties Joint Venture (properties in the US and Germany) to three third party investors:real estate investment trusts Ivanhoe Cambridge (250 million) and Madison International Realty (150 million);plus a large US pension fund (133 million).Ivanhoe will have a seat on the Hudson's Bay board of directors.Proceeds of the sale will pay down Hudson's Bay's 1.085 billion dollar loan to 500 million.The company will retain a 63% stake in HBS Global Properties,which it said it may sell more of for further deleveraging or acquisitions.*
Hudson's Bay,of Toronto,Canada,began as a fur trader in 1670,and is the oldest North American company.It evolved into a department store titan with more than 460 stores and 65,000 employees worldwide.Its major banners include Hudson's Bay,Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue in North America;GALERIA Kaufhof in Germany;and Galeria INNO in Belgium.Hudson's Bay other retail holdings are FIND@Lord & Taylor,Home Outfitters and Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH in North America;and SPORTARENA in Germany.*
In addition to retail,the midcap growth company has acquired a substantial real estate portfolio consisting of its remaining stake in the aforementioned HBS Global Properties Joint Venture and the RioCan - HBC Joint Venture (Canadian properties).*
Keeping pace with change in the industry,Hudson's Bay has increased its digital sales by a substantial 30% as it increasingly invests in online sales.It will also benefit from the synergies generated by its acquisition of Saks Fifth Avenue,which are expected to appear in this quarter.This synergy,coupled with the weakness of the Canadian dollar,should result in better returns through 2016.Hudson's Bay is looking to be a retail momentum story backed by large real estate holdings.*
Hudson's Bay Co (TSX:HBC),(PINX:HBAYF)