Executive Summary

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses the upcoming retail holiday season, including Black Friday, and our expectations regarding promotional activity this holiday season.
• This year, more Americans are expected to begin their holiday shopping in the middle of the season, or Thanksgiving weekend, as opposed to late in the season, or early December, a new survey from The NPD Group has found.
• Less than one week after announcing its acquisition of Lord & Taylor’s flagship store in New York, office-space firm WeWork is reportedly set to pay around £600 million (US$796 million) for a large development in the City of London.
• Smartphone shipments in India grew by 23% and crossed the
  40 million mark for the first time in the third quarter of 2017. That means India has overtaken the US in smartphone sales.