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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: holiday shopping

holiday shopping stories: 65 news summaries

1 - 20 of 65 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>

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RACE TO THE BOTTOM

Retailers Sell Flicks Online at Less Than Cost

Big-box giants drop price of 10 hottest
DVD titles to $10

Nov 6, 09 10:42 AM CST
(Newser) - Wal-Mart has spurred an online DVD price war by dropping prices on 10 must-have movies to just $10, which analysts agree is below wholesale cost. “We remain committed to offering our customers the lowest prices online at Walmart.com, and will continue to adjust our pricing accordingly,” a... More »

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online retailers • price war • Target • holiday shopping • Wal-Mart • movies • Amazon.com • DVDs

iPhone Users Get Leg Up on Black Friday

App lets shoppers check deals, and rumored deals

Nov 5, 09 10:51 PM CST
(Newser) - If you’re already getting your Black Friday game face on, consider making the Black Friday app the first thing on your shopping list. The free program from dealnews can keep you up to date on both officially announced bargains and deals that have “leaked,” and lets you... More »

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retail • iPhone • holiday shopping • Black Friday • iPhone applications • App Store • dealnews

Palin's Book, Going Rogue,
Will Be Out by Thanksgiving

Ex-candidate borrows phrase used on her during '08 campaign

Sep 28, 09 7:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - Trading on a phrase often used to describe her actions in the final weeks of last year’s presidential campaign, Sarah Palin’s memoir will be called Going Rogue—and you’ll be able to get it for all the Mama Grizzlies on your holiday shopping list, too. Palin beat... More »

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publishing • memoir • holiday shopping • Sarah Palin • Going Rogue

 Christmas in September 
 Leaves Shoppers Cold 

No, you're not crazy, it is still September

Sep 28, 09 3:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Look around your local department store, and you might encounter a ridiculous site: a Christmas display. Yes, retailers are already decking their halls, desperate to get a piece of consumers’ dwindling holiday budgets before their competitors do. Consumers aren't buying it. “You can’t get in the Christmas spirit... More »

MORE ABOUT:
retail • holiday • holiday shopping • holiday season

 Outlook Bleak for Holiday Hiring 

Pessimistic retailers plan to slash seasonal jobs

Sep 23, 09 1:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - Retail jobs are expected to be in short supply even as the holiday shopping season approaches, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some 40% of retail chains surveyed say they plan to hire fewer workers this year than they did last year when the recession forced many to cut staffing levels.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
employment • unemployment • retail sales • holiday shopping • retailers • staff

 Toys R Us 
 Pumped Up 
 for Holiday 
 Offensive 

Chain plans to open 80 temporary stores in time for holiday shopping season

Sep 15, 09 1:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Toys R Us is getting ready to go on the offensive in the battle for holiday sales, the Washington Post reports. The company—which snapped up the KB Toys and FAO Schwarz brands earlier this year—plans to open 80 temporary "Holiday Express" stores in malls across the country,... More »

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toys • Toys 'R' Us • mall • retail sales • holiday shopping • retail stores • Wal-Mart

Ho-Ho-Hold on
a Minute,
Xmas in July?

Stores launch summer promotions to snag holiday dollars early

Jul 31, 09 4:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in malls across the country as stores angle for some extremely early holiday dollars, the Wall Street Journal reports. Retailers like Toys'R'US, Sears and Kmart have dragged Santa away from his summer break and launched July Christmas promotions, hoping to boost sales... More »

MORE ABOUT:
retail • recession • retail sales • Christmas • holiday shopping • shoppers • Christmas shopping

Slump in TV Sales May Push Smaller Makers Out

Likes of Hitachi, Pioneer don't have staying power of Sony and other giants

Jan 20, 09 2:09 PM CST
(Newser) - A steep decline in demand for flat-panel TVs could push smaller manufacturers out of the market, the Wall Street Journal reports. As the economy sours and larger makers achieve economies of scale, the price gap between top brands and cheaper rivals has shrunken dramatically. The top five makers accounted for... More »

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television • Sony • consumer spending • retail sales • flat screen TVs • holiday shopping • Panasonic • discounts • financial crisis • Vizio • Pioneer

 'Sea Change' In 
 Store for Retail  

Shops to shut, brands to fold as bankruptcies soar

Dec 27, 08 10:28 AM CST
(Newser) - Shaken by a tough holiday season and bracing for more trouble, the retail scene may look very different in 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some stores will be reducing inventory and cutting suppliers, which could force small manufacturers to fold. Retail bankruptcies could abound. "We will have a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
retail • shopping • brands • bankruptcy • retail sales • holiday shopping • retail stores • suppliers • retail outlet • inventory

Amazon Has 'Best Ever' Holiday Season

Online retailer beat the market with HDTVs, iPods, and Wii

Dec 26, 08 3:10 PM CST
(Newser) - The Grinch apparently didn’t sour shoppers on Amazon this year: The company said today the 2008 holiday season was its “best ever,” MarketWatch reports. Amazon sold more than 6.3 million items worldwide on Dec. 15, its peak day, amounting to “a record-breaking 72.9 items... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • retail sales • Christmas • holiday shopping • Amazon • retailers

Gift-Givers Get Crafty In Tight Holiday Times

Sales of craft supplies and handmade
items shine

Dec 23, 08 10:14 AM CST
(Newser) - Although the economic downturn has nearly everyone pinching pennies, craft stores are watching theirs stack up as holiday gift-givers are saving money by making their own gifts or buying handmade items from others, the New York Times reports. While overall retail revenues in November were off 7.4% from last... More »

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eBay • crafts • holiday shopping • holiday sales • financial crisis • holiday season

 Desperate Retailers Offer 
 24-Hour Shopping 

More stores are extending hours to catch last-minute shoppers, night owls

Dec 22, 08 7:51 AM CST
(Newser) - With the holiday shopping season on track to be the worst in decades, more struggling retailers like Toys "R" Us, Macy's, and Wal-Mart are opting to keep their doors open 24 hours the last few days, hoping to entice last-minute shoppers and night-owls, reports the Wall Street Journal. "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Macy's • Toys 'R' Us • holiday shopping • Wal-Mart • L.L. Bean

Shoppers
Turn to Funny, Useful Gifts

Boots, joke books, comfort clothes score big in recession

Dec 21, 08 5:05 PM CST
(Newser) - Christmas shoppers are thinking small this year, and the gifts they're buying reveal how Americans are coping with recession, USA Today reports. Here's a list of today's trends:
  • Practical: Nearly half of the most popular items searched for online were boots, according to one mall inventory service. Gifts that
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • Christmas • holiday shopping • economic downturn • Christmas shopping • presents

Storms Threaten to Wipe Out Retailers' Last Hopes

Double whammy for desperate stores struggling to sell in last holiday week

Dec 21, 08 5:26 AM CST
(Newser) - Retailers were extending hours and cutting prices deeper in a last-ditch attempt to attract a final wave of holiday shoppers and mitigate the impact of major storms in the Midwest, Northwest and Northeast, Reuters reports. Some two-thirds of shoppers still have holiday shopping left to do, according to surveys, but... More »

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shopping • retail sales • holiday shopping • discounts • holiday sales • winter storms

Sold-Out Kindles Still Available—for a Price

Amazon loses out as savvy buyers trade e-book for big returns

Dec 20, 08 2:09 AM CST
(Newser) - Amazon.com has run out of Kindle e-book readers, sending their prices soaring on the second-hand market and on sites like eBay, reports Bloomberg. Ever since an Oprah endorsement in October cleaned out the online retailer’s stock, those with Kindles in hand have sought to secure a return on... More »

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Oprah Winfrey • Christmas • holiday shopping • Kindle • Amazon.com • ebooks • second-hand • used electronics • bidding war

(Newser) - Naughty or nice, America’s retail stores can’t look forward to two of the holiday season’s usual boons: gift card sales and “self-gifting” splurges, MarketWatch reports. About 44% of shoppers say they will not buy gift cards this year, up from 26% last year, a marketing study... More »

MORE ABOUT:
retail • retail sales • holiday shopping • gift • holiday sales • gift card • economy

 Trampled Worker's 
 Family Sues Wal-Mart 

And more lawsuits coming over Black Friday trampling on Long Island

Dec 3, 08 2:56 PM CST
(AP) - The family of the Wal-Mart temp worker who was trampled to death by a Black Friday stampede has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in New York's state Supreme Court against the retailer and the Long Island mall where the store is located. The family also filed notice that Nassau County,... More »

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crime • New York • Long Island • temporary employment • civil lawsuits • holiday shopping • Black Friday • Wal-Mart • stampede • wrongful death

Israeli Salesmen the Kings of the Mall Kiosk

Pushy vendors bring bazaar-culture to holiday shopping

Dec 3, 08 2:20 PM CST
(Newser) - Chances are that shopping-mall cart vendor offering you spa lotions or whimsical toys this Christmas season is an Israeli transplant who knows how to hustle and haggle. Cart owners avoid hiring shyer Americans because "Israelis are natural-born closers," said one marketing director, and they're edging out other Turkish,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
mall • holiday shopping • Israelis • Christmas shopping

 Was Wal-Mart 
 Trampling a Crime? 

Experts mixed on whether death can be prosecuted

Dec 2, 08 9:32 AM CST
(Newser) - Trampling a Long Island Wal-Mart worker in a frenzied rush for flat-screen TVs may be a prosecutable crime, reports Newsday, but experts are split. “In order to prosecute a homicide, you have to establish that someone caused a death," said a lawyer. "If I stepped on his... More »

MORE ABOUT:
crime • death • accidental death • holiday shopping • Black Friday • Wal-Mart • criminal prosecution • civil trial

 Holiday Sales Surge 
 on Deep Discounts 

But retailers worry huge bargains may cut deeply into their profits

Dec 1, 08 7:19 AM CST
(Newser) - Desperate retailers received a jolt of good news this weekend as shoppers poured into stores and spent 7% more—an average $372.57 each—than they did a year ago, reports the New York Times. But Black Friday glee may be replaced with gloom as retailers tote up the slim... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Target • holiday shopping • Black Friday • National Retail Federation • financial crisis

1 - 20 of 65 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>


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