This Week in Retail: Halloween sales, and Apple and Amazon earnings

While the holiday shopping season seems to start earlier and earlier every year, Best Buy is making it official. The electronics chain announced last week that it is kicking off its holiday shopping season Friday, on Halloween, with spooky-themed deals.

Here’s what else is going on retail this week:

In earnings: The Q3 earnings season is getting underway this week with a double whammy from big tech. Both Apple and Amazon are reporting on Thursday, and both should have plenty to say about how they’re faring going into the crucial fourth quarter and what they’re expecting for the rest of the year. There are some positive indicators for Apple, with iPhone sales coming in higher than expected. And Amazon is fresh off a leak revealing that the company is planning to replace 600,000 US workers with robots, as well as a major Amazon Web Services outage that disrupted internet use globally.

In grand reopenings: After being purchased out of bankruptcy at the beginning of the year, Big Lots is celebrating its grand reopening on Thursday. Locations have been reopening throughout the year, but the company will mark its comeback with a series of celebrations.

In conferences: There are two apparel conferences taking place this week, so here’s a quick rundown on each of them:

Retail Rebels is coming to midtown Manhattan on Tuesday and Wednesday, with promises of hands-on sessions about “how brands can shift from transactional to emotional connections.” Speakers include executives from Filson, Vans, Burlington, and Under Armour.

Meanwhile, downtown, Women’s Wear Daily is holding its Apparel & Retail CEO Summit. The event brings together leading executives to discuss challenges and opportunities facing the apparel industry. Brands sending representatives include Bloomingdale’s, The North Face, Saks, and Ralph Lauren.