More Americans Shopped Online than at Stores over Black Friday Weekend by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "Talk about a seminal moment in American culture. Some 103 million Americans shopped online over the Thanksgiving-Black Friday weekend, slightly more than the 102 million who went out to stores." Read more   NRF: U.S. holiday sales on track amid online boost by Nathan Layne at Reuters. "U.S. holiday shopping is on track for a modest 3.7 percent rise this year after strong turnout during the Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend and thanks to strong online sales, the National Retail Federation said on Sunday [...]

  U.S. Probes Possible Wal-Mart Misconduct in Brazil by Aruna Viswanatha & Sarah Nassauer at WSJ. "Federal prosecutors are examining $500,000 in payments that they believe ultimately went to an individual hired to obtain government permits the company needed to build two stores in Brasília, Brazil’s capital, between 2009 and 2012, an investigative document shows." Read more (subscription)   ...Walmart spokesman Greg Hitt told the Journal that the retailer is cooperating fully with the government but declined to divulge any details via International Business Times. Read more   Apple's Failed Retail Revolution: Beacons Still Won't Be Big on Black Friday [...]

  U.S. retailers hunt for attacks after being warned of stealthy malware by Jim Finkle at Reuters via Globe & Mail. "This is by far the most sophisticated point-of-sale malware seen to date,” said Maria Noboa, lead technical analyst for privately held iSight Partners, which uncovered the malware and was due to release a technical report about it on Tuesday." Read more   The 20 Best Workplaces in Retail by Jonathan Chew at Fortune. "Here’s Fortune’s second annual list of the best workplaces in the retail industry..." See the top 20 list   Report: Clues point to secret Amazon.com air [...]

  Petco Nears $4.7 Billion Sale to CVC and Canadian Pension Plan by Leslie Picker at NY Times. "The deal is likely to be announced on Monday, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions were still private." Read more   Walmart is About to Turn Cyber Monday into Cyber Sunday by Phil Wahba at Fortune. "Walmart said on Monday it would offer its Cyber Monday deals beginning on Sunday for the first time ever, looking to get a head start on an online shopping day expected to generate $3 billion across the retail industry. [...]

  Chicago Tribune: Target's Brian Cornell Talks Strategy in Q&A by Gregory Karp. "Q: Experimenting with the new flexible-format store in Chicago seems to have an element of innovation and risk-taking. Does it? A: It's taking the right, measured risk. We like what we see with flexible formats, and this one is off to a very good start. But we're not rolling out 100." Read the full interview   Star Wars Movie Already has $50 Million in the Bank by Molly Brown at GeekWire. "Most movies would be lucky to open to $50 million. Four weeks before its debut, Star Wars: The [...]

  Best Buy Q3 Comp Sales +0.5% "Online comparable sales increased 18% as our new mobile site and overall enhanced dotcom capabilities continued to drive higher conversion rates and increased traffic." Read the release   Best Buy Shares Sink as Revenue Drops 2.3% by Ritika Shah at CNBC. Read more   Despite new staff, Bean Boots are backlogged again by Taryn Luna at Boston Globe. "Imagine 50,000 people, waiting. Not for a driver’s license renewal. Not for a reservation at a restaurant. Not for a doctor’s appointment. They’re waiting for a pair of L.L. Bean’s signature boots." Read more   Google [...]

  Today: Target CEO Brian Cornell to Speak with CNBC’s Courtney Reagan Today at 12:15pm ET  Read the release   Lowe's Q3 Comp Sales +4.6%, US Comp +5.0% "Sales for the third quarter increased 5.0 percent to $14.4 billion from $13.7 billion in the third quarter of 2014." Read the release   Fortune 2016 Predictions: Hudson’s Bay Will Buy Macy’s  See all of the predictions   Home Depot's Carol Tome to Fix Interline’s Reporting by Maxwell Murphy at WSJ. "Home Depot closed the deal in late August, but could only include one month of Interline’s results in its earnings for the fiscal third [...]

  Home Depot Q3 Comp +5.1%, US Stores +7.3% "The Home Depot today reported sales of $21.8 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2015, a 6.4 percent increase from the third quarter of fiscal 2014." Read the release   Home Depot posts earning beat by Fred Imbert at CNBC. "The home improvement retailer posted third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.36 per share...Revenue rose to $21.82 billion from $20.52 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by Reuters expected the company to post earnings per share of $1.32 on revenue of $21.82 billion." Read more   Walmart Q3 US Comp +1.5% "Traffic increased 1.7%...Neighborhood Market [...]