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Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) may have just edged a bit closer to a takeover by its largest rival Borders (NYSE:BGP). Bill Ackman, the head of Pershing Square Capital Management and Borders' largest shareholder, has offered to help finance a potential purchase of Barnes and Noble for $16 a share, or about $900 million, according to a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.  The bid reflects a 20% premium to Barnes & Noble’s closing price on Friday. Ackman currently owns about 36.5 million Borders shares, or 37.3% of the company,

“Cyber Monday kicked off the most recent work week with an all-time record of more than $1 billion in e-commerce spending, representing a strong 16-percent growth rate versus year ago,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “While we saw three more days during the week with at least $800 million in spending, growth rates slowed to single-digit levels following several weeks at about 13 percent."

"Mobile" is so early 2010. The end of the year has already brought two investments — and possibly a third — by major tech companies in the latest hot e-commerce topic: local shopping.

Hurt by sluggish sales, Blyth (NYSE:BTH) slipped about 11% Friday after lowering its fiscal 2011 guidance amid tepid third-quarter earnings. Revenue for the Greenwich, Conn-based company was $215.5 million, down 3% from $221.6 million a year ago, though still beating the Street’s view of $195.7 million. Lower sales were led by softer volume in PartyLite, its catalog and Internet units, and food service, offset by gains in its ViSalus Sciences and Midwest-CBK businesses. Robert B. Goergen, Blyth's chief executive, said sales growth fell below management's expectations, attributing the losses to

Walgreen Co.'s (WAG) November same-store sales rose 3.2%, beating Wall Street's expectation, with half the growth due to a shift in the calendar while continued strength at the pharmacies bolstered results. Meanwhile, same-store sales for its fiscal first quarter ended Tuesday edged up 0.8%, increasing 0.4% at the front end of the store. Prescriptions filled at stores open at least a year rose 2.2%. Total sales for the first quarter climbed 5.9% to $17.33 billion, beating the $17.25 billion average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The nation's largest drugstore chain's monthly results have mostly

Small merchants are attracting and retaining customers with a unique experience at Limelight Market this holiday season.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission continues to issue new regulations and interpretations that impact retailers — both large and small — and their product suppliers.

NEW YORK-- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Retailer Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS) today announced that owned sales totaled $254.9 million for the four weeks ended November 27, 2010 compared to $245.1 million for the four weeks ended November 28, 2009, a 4.0% increase. Comparable store sales increased 5.3% for the month. On a year-to-date basis, for the ten months ended November 27, 2010, owned sales totaled $2,144.7 million compared to $2,039.4 million for the ten months ended November 28, 2009, a 5.2% increase. Comparable store sales increased 5.5% for the ten months. For November, the strongest categories at Saks Fifth Avenue

Retail sales rose the most in eight months in November, led by Abercrombie & Fitch and J.C. Penney. The increase beat analysts’ estimates as consumers gobbled up discounts, particularly during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Amazon.com invested $175 million in LivingSocial, a deals site for local businesses and restaurants similar to Groupon, which is rumored to be considering a $6 billion offer from Google. LivingSocial also secured an additional $8 million investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners. LivingSocial has 10 million subscribers and over 120 locations in the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland and Australia. It describes itself as an online source for people to "find handpicked experiences at a great value, inviting anyone to save up to 50% to 70% each day on their favorite restaurants, spas, sporting events, hotels and other local attractions in