Surprise! Retail Sales Up 1% in Jan.

Recession isn't over as far as consumers are concerned

(NEWSER) - If the recession is indeed waning, nobody told consumers. Retailers of every kind reported lousy sales for the quarter ended Aug. 1, the Wall Street Journal reports. Target’s same-store sales fell 6.2%, Home Depot’s dropped 9.1% and Saks’ plummeted a whopping 15.5%. And with unemployment, stagnant wages, and tight credit squeezing shoppers, executives don’t expect to see improvement until next spring. More»

(NEWSER) - Retailers are fighting to survive in 2009, some more successfully than others. Some 73,000 stores could close their doors by year’s end. Forbes breaks down which chains are shrinking the fastest:

• Ann Taylor: Catering to working women isn’t so great when unemployment’s at 8.1%. Expected sales drop: 17.3%
• Saks: November’s 70%-off sale didn’t help, and it’s already been forced to lay off 1100. Expected sales drop: 26.2%

Biz approach to females: take 'a male product and paint it pink'

(NEWSER) - Women who shop til they drop are stimulating the economy more than any Ben Bernanke, but the planet's greatest spending bloc feels dissed by retailers and service providers. Women control $20 trillion in annual consumer spending in the world—a figure likely to climb to $28 trillion by 2014. Despite the financial crisis, domestic spending in China in the first nine months of this year was up 15%, driven largely by women under 35. More»

In slump, simple pleasures are chic as traditional values gain

(NEWSER) - Reading about a Michigan family that shed modern excess in favor of a self-sufficient farm life didn't strike Peggy Noonan as shocking in these economic times. Her fellow New Yorkers have already begun responding to the same forces, causing Noonan to predict the rise of "a certain authenticity chic," she writes in the Wall Street Journal: More»

Blow to hopes that economy has hit trough

(AP) - Retail sales fell unexpectedly in March, delivering a setback to hopes that the economy's steep slide could be bottoming out. The Commerce Department cited a 1.1% drop, the biggest decline in 3 months and a much weaker showing than the 0.3% increase that analysts expected. Falling auto sales led the overall slump in demand. Sales also plunged at clothing stores, appliance outlets, and furniture stores. More»