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Amid all the noise over the new Apple Watch, another drumbeat has sounded for the past 10 hours or so. The Apple iTunes, Mac and App stores are down, and down hard. I write this at 3:30 p.m. EDT, and they're still down. In my world, they've been down since 6 a.m. How much is this going to cost Apple in real retail revenue? Certainly the money comes in micro-bursts, a dollar here and a dollar there, but it adds up quickly. The Chicago Tribune reports that last year, Apple's iTunes and App Store revenue per day averaged $50 million.

With shallow pockets but a deep commitment to promote "living wages," women's advocacy group UltraViolet has peppered Target with cheap location-focused online ads, challenging it to match Wal-Mart's promise of $10-an-hour base pay. The nonprofit advocacy group launched its campaign on Tuesday. With a budget of just $5,000, it purchased online ads that appear on the browsers of people surfing the web within an approximately 1,000-feet radius of three stores in Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Nebraska.

Lumber Liquidators said Thursday that it stands by its products and will pay for the safety testing of laminate floors for customers to help ease concerns. The Toano, Va.-based company addressed concerns raised following a "60 Minutes" report that said the company's laminate flooring made in China contained high levels of formaldehyde, a carcinogen. The report earlier this month said the company's laminate flooring fell short of California's standards, something it denies. Lumber Liquidators has said that it complies with all regulations for its products.

L.L.Bean, known for selling its trademark boots via catalog for more than a century, plans to make a bigger push into brick-and-mortar retail by more than tripling the number of domestic stores over the next five years, officials said Wednesday. The Maine-based company, which is coming off five years of increasing revenue, will open four stores this year before accelerating growth with a goal of at least 100 stores by 2020, CEO Chris McCormick told workers in a memo. The retail push will include Bean's first West Coast presence with the opening of stores in the Pacific Northwest.

During Monday's Apple Watch event, Apple CEO Tim Cook suggested the high-end Apple Watch Edition will be available in limited quantities at a select number of stores. He was likely referring to some of the pop-up shops we've seen under construction in upscale department stores Galleries Lafayette in Paris and Selfridges in London. Women's Wear Daily has shared some more information on the locations where we will see the $10,000-plus Apple Watch Edition and other versions of the Apple Watch shown off around the world.

With the growth of e-commerce still outpacing the overall growth of brick-and-mortar sales, retailers are continuing to close stores. While total U.S. retail sales grew 3.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to the same quarter in 2013, e-commerce sales jumped 14.6 percent in the fourth quarter. One year earlier, total sales grew 3.8 percent year-over-year, while e-commerce sales increased 16.0 percent. As e-commerce increasingly grabs a larger share of retail sales, several major retailers are reducing their physical presence, including department stores and specialty retailers such as clothing stores, bookstores and electronics outlets.

For Columbus, Ohio-based fashion retailer Express, a continued expansion of outlet stores is a central part of its strategy, executives told analysts this week during a conference call on 2014 earnings. In the year just ended, Express had 600 stores, down from 632 stores from the year before. While about 19 of those stores closed, others were converted into outlet locations. Express has about 41 outlet locations now and ultimately plans to have as many as 150 of the lower-priced stores in the next few years.

Just in time for bikini season, Lands' End is introducing a new digital tool to solve the most vexing seasonal dilemma for many women: finding the perfect swimsuit. The Lands' End Swim Finder is an online tool that helps women select the perfect swimsuit. The tool was created to provide a professional swimsuit fitting consultation virtually, in the comfort and privacy of one's home. "At Lands' End, we know the key to a flattering

If you've ever searched high and low to find the perfect present for your odd cousin Bob only to find that everything you see in the store is generic or just wouldn't fit his unique personality, then you're the type of consumer Amazon.com aims to please with its latest store. Amazon announced today the addition of Amazon Exclusives, which aims to give consumers direct access to innovative products from popular and up-and-coming brands.

The Senate has reintroduced a bipartisan bill aimed at making it easier for states to collect sales taxes on online purchases. The legislation, known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, passed the Senate in 2013, but was stalled in the House. Several of the bill's backers co-sponsored the latest iteration: Senators Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.