The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. announced that its comparable store sales for the nine-week holiday period ended December 30, 2017 decreased 2.9%. Total sales for the nine-week November and December period were $720.8 million compared to sales of $752.1 million in the prior year period. The Company's best performing categories over the period were Cosmetics, Children's, Outerwear and Fine Jewelry. Bill Tracy, president and chief executive officer for The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. said, "The Company's holiday period comparable store sales decrease of 2.9% is an improvement from the comparable store sales decrease of 6.6% reported in the third quarter. We are actively engaged in discussions with our debt holders in an effort to strengthen our capital structure to support the business going forward."

Wiley Education Services announced the signing of several new university partnerships this year including Calvin University, La Trobe University, Methodist University and University of New Haven, to support more than 45 undergraduate and graduate online programs across a variety of high-demand disciplines from healthcare to counseling and cybersecurity. “We are continuing to see an increased, proactive commitment to strategic online learning programs from universities, not for emergency support amid COVID-19, but to promote long-term success,” said Todd Zipper, President of Wiley Education Services. “We look forward to serving as a trusted partner to each university, delivering top-quality faculty training and career-focused education in subject areas that are critically needed now and will surely be essential to post-pandemic recovery.”

Microsoft said on Friday it will permanently close all of its 83 store locations and will instead focus on its e-commerce business, where customers can visit for support, sales, training and more. The decision comes after Microsoft temporarily closed stores in March due to the spread of the coronavirus. Microsoft said the thousands of workers from these stores have already transitioned to new roles where they're providing sales, training, and support to customers from Microsoft corporate facilities or remotely. Total Retail's Take: Microsoft opened its first brick-and-mortar store in 2009, where people could go to try the company's software and hardware. This decision was made after Apple, its main competitor, was enjoying great success and popularity with its modern, clean retail outlets. Over the past decade, Microsoft expanded its retail presence in an effort to create a shopping experience similar to Apple’s.