Black Friday effect: Weekend sees rise in shoppers
USA Today
Shoppers took to stores in big numbers over the holiday weekend, but average spending per person fell as they snapped up bargains — trend retail analysts expect to continue through Christmas. The National Retail Federation reported Sunday that Americans spent an estimated $41.2 billion over the holiday weekend, an amount on par with last year. Store traffic surpassed expectations despite the weak economy.More

Shoppers showed up, but spent on bargains
The New York Times
More consumers flooded the nation’s stores on Thanksgiving weekend in search of bargains. But with retailers dangling rock-bottom prices and consumers only biting at less expensive merchandise like small appliances and winter clothes, the average amount spent by each shopper declined from last year.Some 195 million consumers visited stores and Web sites over the weekend, up from 172 million last year, according to the National Retail Federation, the trade group that reported.More

Built to last
Retail Merchandiser
When it comes to shopping, drugstores know what products consumers need to buy, and consumers know where to go to find what they need. According to Walgreens' Catherine Lindner, vice president of retail marketing, it's not that shoppers are cutting out discretionary spending completely. Rather, it’s that most drugstores keep their discretionary spends in a price range consumers are comfortable with even in the depths of a recession.More

Retailers better positioned this season coming out of recession
The Oregonian
Retail buyers—the ones who decided what gifts you'll see in stores this season—are in the holiday hot seat. These behind-the-scenes players must buy stuff folks want at the right price: low enough to lure in cash-strapped customers, yet high enough to earn their companies a profit. For many buyers, it's crucial they get it right this year.
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A renaissance is under way at The Limited, featuring new hopes for growth and some cool-again fashions
The Columbus Dispatch
It's back to the future for The Limited stores as the retail chain, once dominant in the 1980s, is working hard to revive its fortunes under new ownership. As if to assert its independence, the company plans to move into new headquarters in New Albany, away from its Columbus home near Limited Brands. More

Zale sees bright spots but reports wider loss
The Dallas Morning News
Zale Corp. widened its fiscal first-quarter loss, but said that traffic in stores and online is inching up as it heads into the holiday season. The Irving-based jewelry retailer should be able to beat last year's abysmal holiday quarter when sales declined 22 percent in December, but management would only say the company is "cautiously optimistic."    More

Kohl's.com available for shoppers again
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
After experiencing the Black Friday blues, the Kohl's Web site was back in service Friday night. Access to the site has reportedly been spotty Friday, and unhappy shoppers vented on the company's Facebook page. Several shoppers said they lost out on deals. One shopper complained on Facebook that he had $150 worth of merchandise in his online shopping cart, and after checkout delays, the price was recalculated to be $200.More

Trial separation—or permanent split?
STORES
Consumers' love affair with credit cards is on the rocks. Besieged by job insecurity and no longer able to overlook climbing interest rates and hefty monthly balances, shoppers are resisting the urge to say "charge" and opting more frequently to either pay via cash or debit card.More

Price of '12 Days of Christmas' rises
MSNBC
Your true love will be shelling out more to buy all the gifts included in the song "12 Days of Christmas" this year. According to PNC Bank's annual Christmas Price Index, the current cost for one set of each of the gifts given in the song is now $21,465.56, a mere $385.46, or 1.8 percent, increase from last year — the smallest increase since 2002.More

More shoppers use smartphones to study, find, buy
USA Today
This holiday shopping season, retailers are trying to capitalize on the still niche, but poised to boom, market of mobile shoppers. Some 19 percent of Americans will use their mobile devices for shopping this holiday season, according to a Deloitte survey. The number is twice as high for young consumers: 39 percent of those 18 to 29 say they'll use their phones to find store locations, obtain coupons and sales information and research products and prices. One-quarter of all who plan to use their phones to shop say they will make purchases on the devices.More

Consumers revert to higher spending, lower saving
Retailer Daily
In a reversion to economic trends established during the summer of 2009, U.S. consumers spent more and saved less in October 2009 than in September 2009. According to the monthly Bureau of Economic Analysis Personal Income and Outlays report, consumer personal income and disposable personal income slightly rose, as well.More