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NEW YORK -- Bon-Ton Stores Inc. said Thursday that its December sales at stores open at least one year rose 0.1%. Total sales for the five weeks ended Jan. 1 fell 0.1% to $511 million. Tony Buccina, vice chairman and president of merchandising, said that Bon-Ton estimated that severe snow storms affected sales by 1.5 to 2 percentage points. Copyright © 2011 MarketWatch, Inc.

2010 has come to a close with a big holiday bang. Not only were holiday retail sales up big — 5.5 percent over 2009 for the 50-day period from Nov. 5 to Dec. 24 — but online retail was up some 15.4 percent. 

Shares of J.Crew surged as high as 9 percent after rumors hit that Sears and Urban Outfitters may launch rival bids for the clothier, according to a report by Bloomberg, citing three people close to the matter.

eBay generated nearly $2 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) in 2010, with nearly $850 million coming from the United States.

Even though retail executives recognize the growing and continued importance of information security to their organizations and customers, they've been holding back on increasing information security investments, according to the 2011 Global State of Information Security Survey.

comScore reported that retail e-commerce spending for the entire November – December 2010 holiday season reached $32.6 billion, marking a 12 percent increase vs. last year and an all-time record for the season.

Online sales have been of increasing importance to retailers as more and more people are deciding to shop online due to the convenience, as well as to take advantage of discounts and free shipping deals.

The outlook for same-store sales continues the improvement trend begun in September, according to the December ForecastIQ. But with consumer confidence more than two points lower in December 2010 than December 2009, it's not certain if the continuing improvement trend will bring sustainable recovery.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Sears Holdings Corp. has promoted Deidra Cheeks Merriwether to senior vice president and president of retail services. The company said Tuesday that in the new role, Merriwether will be responsible for the oversight and leadership of retail services for all Kmart discount stores and Sears department stores. She succeeds James Haworth, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities, according to Sears Holdings. Overall, the retailer operates more than 1,300 Kmart stores and over 900 Sears broadline stores. Merriwether started at Sears Holdings in 2001 as director of IT finance and global capital planning

While Barnes & Noble touts stellar holiday sales, rival Borders continues to teeter on the verge of a bankruptcy filing. Widespread reports indicate Borders CEO Mike Edwards is meeting with publishers in New York this week to get their sign off on a plan to refinance debt and suspend payments. In response, one major distributor, the National Book Network, said it will suspend book shipments to the retailer.