retail

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Retail Sales Rise, but Consumers Spend Cautiously

...consumers spend cautiously and retailers hurt

(Newser) - Consumers gave some of the nation's retailers a little relief in April, following months of dismal sales, but business was helped along by heavy discounting that could hurt fiscal first-quarter earnings, AP reports. Early sales reports issued yesterday showed that shoppers—who are contending with rising gas prices, sagging home...

Bankrupt, Linens 'n Things Will Fold 120 Stores

Retailer files for Chapter 11 as consumer spending falls

(Newser) - Linens 'n Things filed for bankruptcy protection today, MarketWatch reports, and plans to close 120 stores nationwide as other operations continue. "The significant deterioration in the mortgage, housing and credit markets and the resulting impact on the retail marketplace, particularly the home sector, has overwhelmed the operating and merchandising...

Retailers Checking Out as Economy Falters

Each default brings widespread fallout

(Newser) - Stores across the country are closing their doors, the New York Times reports, victims of a downturn in consumer spending. Retailers are often heavily leveraged, and as the economy falters banks are tightening credit. Several chains, including Sharper Image, have declared bankruptcy; others like Footlocker, Ann Taylor, and Zales are...

Blockbuster Makes $1.35B Bid for Circuit City

Movie-rental chain takes its $6-$8 per share bid public

(Newser) - Movie-rental chain Blockbuster went public today with an offer to buy struggling consumer electronics retailer Circuit City for between $6 and $8 a share, reports the Wall Street Journal. Blockbuster made the offer—worth up to $1.35 billion—in February, but said Circuit City hasn’t opened its books....

Linens 'n Things to Go Bust
Linens 'n
Things to
Go Bust
Apr 11, 2008 6:50 AM CDT

Linens 'n Things to Go Bust

Home-furnishings giant may be first retail victim of market crisis

(Newser) - Linens ‘n Things ls expected to file for Chapter 11 by Tuesday, the deadline for a $15-million quarterly debt payment, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move would make the home-furnishings giant the first major retailer sunk by the housing crisis, after bloated debt and plummeting demand handed the...

For Sale: Video Vault of Wal-Mart Inner Workings

Spurned by retailer, production company sells years of footage

(Newser) - A tiny production company has decades of behind-the-scenes moments from Wal-Mart on film—and up for grabs. The chain hired Flagler Productions to film its inner workings for corporate events, but fired it two years ago, the Wall Street Journal reports. After Wal-Mart low-balled Flagler on the archive, it’s...

OMG, Txt Msg Shopping!
OMG, Txt Msg Shopping!
Apr 2, 2008 12:25 PM CDT

OMG, Txt Msg Shopping!

Amazon's new service lets consumers buy and compare prices on the go

(Newser) - Ruling the computer shopping world wasn’t enough for Amazon. Thanks to its new TextBuyIt service, customers can search the retail giant from anywhere… including, just as an example mind you, brick-and-mortar stores. Is Amazon specifically hoping to pluck price-comparing shoppers out of real world aisles? “We think they’...

Wal-Mart Helps Farmers Grow, American Style

But Central American stores may ruin them first, critics say

(Newser) - Wal-Mart is helping Central American farmers even as the chain threatens to render their mom-and-pop ways outdated, the Los Angeles Times reports. Thousands of small farmers are financially at risk, unable to grow produce that fits the US giant's supply chain—so Wal-Mart, Washington, and a Portland, Ore., relief group...

Wal-Mart Leads Feb. Retail Rally
Wal-Mart Leads Feb. Retail Rally
Mar 6, 2008 10:47 AM CST

Wal-Mart Leads Feb. Retail Rally

Overall sales jump doubles expectations, calms consumer spending fears

(Newser) - Big retailers showed unexpected signs of life in February, beating weak sales predictions to inject some hope into the market. Wal-Mart led the way, posting a 2.6% same-store increase, beating its own predictions of flat-to-2% growth. Overall, same-store sales climbed 1.9%, with more than half of retailers beating...

States Look to Collect Tax on Internet Sales

Many are asking people to fess up when they fill out their IRS forms

(Newser) - As tax time draws near, more Americans may be stumbling upon an extra line on their state returns, Forbes reports. About half of state governments—including New York, Michigan, California, North Carolina, and Ohio—are trying to collect their fare share of sales taxes from Internet sales. Chances remain slim,...

Retailers Bully Shoplifters for $$
Retailers Bully Shoplifters for $$
Feb 20, 2008 2:00 PM CST

Retailers Bully Shoplifters for $$

'Civil recovery' systems using threat of legal action to extort funds

(Newser) - A system designed to compensate retailers for losses incurred by shoplifters has few controls to prevent the extortion or harassment, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Civil recovery” laws allow retailers to turn the names of suspected shoplifters over to collection agencies who demand fees of $200 or much more—...

Retail Scores Big on Unused Gift Cards

$7.8B in cards unused annually; some states want cut of profit

(Newser) - Retailers are likely rubbing their hands with glee after shoppers snapped up $97 billion in gift cards this year, up from $83 billion in 2006. Why the excitement? The industry makes billions each year from “breakage," or gift card money that is never spent. Lost, discarded, or under-used...

Designer Perfume Profits Give Off Whiff of Decay

Expensive luxury fragrances wooing less and less consumers

(Newser) - Perfume makers keep flooding the market with designer brands, but consumers appear to have had their fill. Global revenue from high-end perfumes—those $100 and up—increased only 3% to $18 billion in 2006 and is expected to slow even more this year, reports the Wall Street Journal. That's while...

Retailers Slash Prices to Boost Slumping Season

Plagued by high gas and food prices, shoppers hold out for bargains

(Newser) - Retailers slashed prices nationwide this weekend in a bid to draw last-minute shoppers and lift a slumping holiday season, Bloomberg reports. Pressed by high gas and food prices, consumers are holding out for zero-hour deals; retailers have obliged with half-off sales and extra hours, counting on the last days before...

Nov. Retail Sales Up 1.2%; Sky May Not Be Falling

(Newser) - November’s retail sales confounded doomsayers, surging 1.2%, twice the 0.6% analysts predicted, Bloomberg reports. Many had worried that consumer spending would take a hit as gas rose and housing fell, but now it looks like job and income growth could cushion the fall. “The numbers should...

America, as Defined by Wal-Mart
America,
as Defined
by Wal-Mart
Sep 13, 2007 4:29 PM CDT

America, as Defined by Wal-Mart

With firm grasp on US consumers, snapshot of giant's sales is a self-portrait

(Newser) - Wal-Mart knows a lot about Americans, courtesy of the 208 million US consumers who shop there every year. ABC News takes a look at the superstore's sales figures and finds a portrait of the nation's changing face and taste. Some highlights: Boxers are tied with briefs; Ohio buys the most...

Stocks Rise as Traders Find Signs for Optimism

Spending, productivity outpace estimates

(Newser) - US stocks rose today, Bloomberg reports, boosted by news that back-to-school and luxury shopping outpaced forecasts, along with a spike in worker productivity and a slowdown in labor costs. The Dow climbed 57.88 to 13,363.35. The Nasdaq gained 8.37 to finish at 2,614.32, and...

Credit Crunch Doesn't Dampen Retail Numbers

Luxury, back-to-school shoppers drive August figures up

(Newser) - Better-than-expected retail sales figures for August, which built on healthy back-to-school and luxury shopping, raised hopes today that turbulent markets won't take too big of a bite out of holiday-season sales. Wal-Mart and Target made out well, as did luxury emporiums such as Saks. "It bodes well for Christmas,...

Court Stalls Whole Foods Merger
Court Stalls Whole Foods Merger
Aug 21, 2007 7:18 AM CDT

Court Stalls Whole Foods Merger

FTC wins 2 days to argue that $565M Wild Oats deal would ruin competition

(Newser) - A federal court issued a temporary injunction yesterday preventing Whole Foods from buying Wild Oats—at least today. The three-judge panel wants extra time to consider the FTC's argument that combining the nation's two largest organic food retailers would destroy competition. The companies will file additional briefs by tomorrow, and...

Inflation Softened in July
Inflation Softened in July
Aug 15, 2007 9:52 AM CDT

Inflation Softened in July

Housing slump, fuel prices weaken spending

(Newser) - Consumer prices in the US in July rose at the slowest rate in eight months. The housing slump—and fuel costs—have weakened consumer spending considerably, forcing retailers to slash prices, Bloomberg reports.  Prices rose only rose 0.1% in July, as predicted by analysts. Yields of U.S....

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