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Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us said Friday that it has expanded its mobile offerings for the holiday season, providing an enhanced shopping experience for on-the-go shoppers. In addition, the retailer said it has made updates made to its iPhone and Android experience, as well as announced partnerships with eBay, Google and shopkick to help customers use their mobile devices to locate product, pay for purchases and source discounts. The shopkick app will allow shoppers at approximately 100 stores in the New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles metro areas to receive savings by entering the stores. Google

Kronos Incorporated recently announced the November release of the Kronos Retail Labor Index™, a family of metrics and indices that characterize the current state of the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector. The November report includes data for October 2011. The analysis and write-up is prepared by Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, and is available on the Kronos Retail Labor Index website. News Facts The Kronos Retail Labor Index: (This index is defined as the ratio of hires to applicants within a given month, expressed as a percentage. A level of 3.0 percent means

New York City -- Mattress Firm Holding Corp. raised about $105.6 million after pricing its initial public offering at the top of its expected range. The retailer priced the IPO of 5.6 million shares at $19 each. It had expected shares to sell initially for $17 to $19 each. Mattress Firm said it will use most of the offering's net proceeds — about $95 million after expenses — to repay $84.4 million in debt and pay fees to its biggest shareholder, Boston private equity firm J.W. Childs. The remaining funds will be under for working capital and other general

Secaucus, N.J. -- The Children's Place Retail Stores reported Thursday that net income increased to $33.7 million for the quarter ended Oct. 29, up from $31.2 million a year earlier. Sales rose 7% to $484.1 million from $453.4 million. Same-store sales edged up 0.9%. President and CEO Jane Elfers said the improved profit and sales picture was attributable to a combination of enhanced merchandise offerings, a honed focus on inventory management and “momentum from our other strategic growth initiatives which enabled us to drive sales and expand margin despite significantly higher product costs and a difficult macroeconomic environment," said

New York & Co. reported that its loss widened in the third quarter to $6 million from $4 million last year. Sales dropped to $216.7 million, compared with $238.2 million a year earlier. Same-store sales decreased 5.2 percent.

How will holiday shoppers find the best prices or the most unique gifts? Will they flip through a circular, find it online, through email, or browse store floors? As the holiday shopping season kicks into gear, companies that demonstrate an understanding of customers’ preferences are likely to pique more interest.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. -- The Wet Seal reported Thursday that net income for the third quarter rose to $3.7 million, from $2.6 million a year earlier. Sales increased to $152.1 million from $146.4 million. Same-store sales declined 0.9% on a consolidated basis. The company had six store openings and two store closings at Wet Seal and four store openings and no store closings at Arden B during the third quarter. It expects to have 22 net Wet Seal store openings and three net Arden B store openings for the full year.

Indianapolis -- The Finish Line announced that Chris Ladd will join the company Nov. 21 as executive VP, chief digital officer. Ladd’s responsibilities will include providing vision, leadership and strategy to develop and implement initiatives across the enterprise including digital and mobile commerce, social media and other key components of the multichannel experience. He comes to Finish Line from Lululemon, a 150-store specialty retailer of yoga-inspired athletic apparel, where he served as senior VP, Global Ecommerce.

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Minneapolis -- Target Corp.’s profit increased a better-than-expected 3.7% in the third quarter to $555 million, up from $535 a year earlier. The retailer’s performance was helped by solid spending and improvement in its credit card business. Revenue rose 5.4% to $16.05 billion. Same-store sales were up 4.3% in the quarter. “We're very pleased with our third-quarter financial results," said Gregg Steinhafel, Target's chairman, president and CEO in a statement. "We're confident that we have the right strategy and team in place to drive continued strong performance this holiday season and well into the future." Target said that its