Content about Electronic Arts

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop Corp reported a nearly 50% increase rise in fourth-quarter profit fueled by gains in its mobile and digital businesses. Profit rose to $261.1 million from $174.7 million.

Revenue for the quarter ended Feb. 2, 2013, totaled $3.56 billion compared to $3.58 billion last year. Same-store sales were down 4.6%.

Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots Inc. reported Tuesday a loss of $6 million for the third quarter, compared with net income of $4.2 million in the year-ago period. Results, however, topped analysts’ earnings expectations.

Revenue slipped 0.4% to $1.13 billion, missing Wall Street’s forecast of $1.3 billion.

The retailer also announced that its CEO Steven Fishman will retire as chairman and CEO after 40 years in retail. Big Lots has launched a search for his successor; Fishman will stay until a new CEO is appointed.

By Kumar Venkataraman

Over the last decade, America’s Atlantic shores have faced the wrath of more than a dozen hurricanes, causing damage worth several billion dollars. Year after year, retailers have been learning and fine-tuning their strategies to respond to the critical needs of consumers in the impacted areas, both in preparing for a disaster and immediately after.

Washington, D.C. -- Shop.org’s holiday 2012 online sales forecast, released Tuesday, expects sales to grow 12% over last holiday season to as much as $96 billion. Last year, according to the Dept. of Commerce, e-commerce sales grew 15% during the months of November and December.

Denver -- Retailers remain conservative when it comes to financial investments in mobile and tablet initiatives despite the industry buzz, according to a survey by Shop.org and Forrester Research Inc.

Canton, Mass. -- Casual Male Retail Group reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Jan. 28 surged to $33.5 million, from $5.3 million in the year-ago period. Without a $23 million trademark impairment charge, net income was $5 million in the quarter.

The retailer of big & tall men's apparel and accessories also reported flat fourth quarter sales of $111.5 million and a slight same-store sales increase of 0.8%.

New York City -- The Jones Group reported a net loss of $21.1 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with $40.1 million a year earlier.

Fourth-quarter revenue totaled $893.6 million, which was in line with analysts' expectations but lower than the company's earlier forecast.

Chicago -- Despite all of the hype surrounding mobile commerce, just 36% of chief marketing officers at retail companies have included mobile in their holiday marketing strategies this year, according to a recent BDO USA survey. And of the CMOs incorporating mobile, 84% say it accounts for less than 10% of their holiday marketing efforts. The findings are from the most recent edition of the BDO Retail Compass Survey of CMOs, which examined the opinions of 100 chief marketing officers at leading retailers located throughout the country.

Boston -- A report released Monday by CBRE Econometric Advisors, a division of Los Angeles-based CBRE Group, said that the U.S. retail real estate sector’s availability rate is expected to decline to 12.4% by the end of 2012.

In 2013, the national retail availability rate, including neighborhood and community centers, will drop further, reaching 11.7%.
 
In third quarter 2011 the retail availability rate was 13.2%. This rate remains well above the previous availability peak of 11.3% set in second quarter 1992.

New York City – E-commerce sales in the U.S. for the November and December holiday shopping season will rise 16.8% to $46.7 billion in 2011, up from $39.9 billion last year and representing a pace five times faster than total retail industry growth, according to eMarketer.

That means online sales growth will reach double digits for the third consecutive year, even though the economy remains shaky and consumers are keeping tight budgets.

Canton, Mass. -- Casual Male Retail Group said Wednesday that it has launched e-commerce site DestinationXL.com, created in tandem with e-commerce and digital marketing firm Acquity Group.

The new site includes a built-in size profiler – a customization tool that allows customers to enter and save their size specifications for either current or future shopping experiences.

New York City -- Videogame maker Electronic Arts has entered the retail arena, opening the EA Sports Experience store, at the Charlotte Douglas International airport, Charlotte, N.C. It will open two additional U.S. airport locations by the end of 2011.

The store sells EA Sports’ games and branded apparel, as well as gear from local sports teams. It features televisions with live sports programming, comfortable seating and electrical outlets to charge portable devices. Customers can also play their favorite EA Sports video games.