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Steve Yankovich is engrossed in a televised hockey game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks. Though he’s a hockey zealot, he cares less about the score than the attire of Ryan Kesler, a Canuck center. “See his jersey?” the eBay executive said, pointing to a TV that almost covers a wall of his office. As he talks, the uniform pops up on a tablet computer in front of him, along with vintage sportswear and tickets to upcoming games — all available for purchase.

Gap warned investors to brace themselves for some rough numbers: the company's net income for the third quarter dropped over a third compared to this time last year. Gap CEO Glenn Murphy admits that it's mostly because the company's main retailers — Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic — just haven't been designing very stylish clothes that people want to buy.

As online shopping continues to reach unprecedented levels, retailers plan to emphasize value and savings to shoppers all holiday season long. According to Shop.org’s eHoliday Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, half (51 percent) of online retailers surveyed will offer promotions specifically on Thanksgiving Day and eight in 10 (78.4 percent) will have special promotions on Cyber Monday.

Whether it’s an unbeatable return policy, a helpful sales associate or 24-hour shopping convenience, holiday shoppers define customer service in a variety of ways. The National Retail Federation Foundation has announced the top 10 retailers for excellent customer service selected by shoppers in the seventh annual NRF Foundation/American Express Customers’ Choice survey.

The Golf Warehouse announced that it's partnered with Austad’s Golf, forming a powerful collaboration between two leaders in the golf industry. The Golf Warehouse and Austad’s Golf are two of the most well-known golf retailers who have built solid business models by focusing on excellent product selection, affordable pricing and outstanding customer service.

OfficeMax announced it will close 20 stores by the end of 2011 in addition to downsizing existing stores and curtailing expansion as a means to cut costs following weak sales, according to published reports.

eBay has acquired Hunch, an online platform launched in 2009, that delivers customized recommendations to its users based on their individual tastes. Hunch's patented prediction technology — also known as a "taste graph" — uses signals from around the Web to map members with their predicted affinity for products, services, other people, websites, or just about anything, and customizes recommended topics for them. Hunch's technology talent and its deep expertise in areas like machine learning, data mining and predictive modeling are expected to help eBay expand and grow merchandising and relevance capabilities to further improve the shopping and selling

Retailers may get a late Christmas gift this year. Up to 60 percent more shoppers will walk through their doors on Dec. 26 than on the same day last year. According to ShopperTrak, consumers will come out in full force on the day after Christmas because it falls on a Monday for the first time in six years.

Topeka, Kan. -- Collective Brands Inc., parent of Payless ShoeSource, reported Monday that it swung to a loss of $114.3 million in the quarter ended Oct. 29, compared with a profit of $47.6 million in the year-ago period. Excluding a tax-related charge, the retailer would have gained $37.1 million in the quarter. Revenue edged up 1.4% to $894.4 million, missing Wall Street’s expected $908.1 million in revenue. Sales were weighed down by Payless, where they fell 5.1%. Same-store sales in the United States dropped 3.7%, and the decline was 4.5% at Payless units. As announced previously, the company reiterated

DDI has been heralding the latest retail store design ideas since 1988 and has become a trusted source for all things retail. When DDI first appeared 20 years ago, the market was right for a magazine that focused on the retail environment. DDI has grown to become the retail design resource for store design concepts and a trusted guide to retail design ideas. DDI carefully chronicles the changes and focuses on the things that generate a buzz the world over in the retail industry.