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Barneys New York, Gap, Coach and other big brands are collaborating with bloggers to create new and controversial forms of advertising for a more social age.

Among uneven retail numbers this year exists a bright spot that has been growing for years, and is leading companies to overhaul their traditional business models: the online retail market.

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Walgreen Co. reported Friday that total sales for the month of August rose 8.6%, to $5.66 billion.Same-store-sales rose 2.1%, just missing Wall Street estimates.Front-end same-store sales edged up just under 1%, while total front-end sales rose 8.3%. Pharmacy same-store sales rose 2.9%, while total pharmacy sales rose 8.6%.The drugstore retailer said a calendar day shift positively impacted the August results.For Walgreen's fourth quarter, which ended Aug. 31, total sales rose 7.6% to $16.89 billion. Same-store sales rose 1.5 %. For the full fiscal year, total sales rose 6.5% to $67.44 billion, while same-store sales rose 1.6%.Walgreen opened 27 stores

Atlanta-based paper and gift retailer Swoozie's has reopened two stores in Atlanta and five others throughout the Southeast, despite filing bankruptcy earlier this year, according to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. A liquidation sale in March cleared the stores of its merchandise and fixtures, and soon after, Swoozie's was auctioned off to Colorado-based private-equity firm Gart Capital. Kelly Plank-Dworkin, president of Swoozie's, has worked diligently to save the store, starting with separating the intellectual property—Swoozie's name and concept—from the bankruptcy filing. Today, many former employees have returned to work in the reopened stores. Plank-Dworkin said she used the bankruptcy as an

Estee Lauder expects its online sales to experience steady double-digit growth as the company continues to build on early e-commerce success. The company has plans to launch new shopping sites in Brazil, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Norway this year, and create new brand sites in the nine countries where it already offers online shopping.

Family Dollar Stores said Friday it has appointed Jacob J. Modla to the position of VP human resources. Modla will report to Bryan Venberg, senior VP human resources. He began his career with Family Dollar in 2004 as assistant general counsel -- litigation, and most recently served as VP -- deputy general counsel.�

Nordstrom Inc. reported August same-store sales at stores open a year or longer increased 6.3 percent over the same time last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters First Call expected August same-store sales at the Seattle retailer (NYSE: JWN) to increase only 5.9 percent last month. Total retail sales increased to $615 million from $541 million in August 2009. Year-to-date same-store sales have increased 9.5 percent compared with the same time last year and year-to-date total retail sales have increased to $5.02 billion from $4.39 billion for the same time in 2009.

Limited Brands reported net sales of USD 630.3 million for the four weeks ended August 28, 2010, compared to USD 561.4 million during the same period in 2009. Group comparable-store sales (comps) increased 10% during the month. Comps for Victoria's Secret stores increased 15%; La Senza store comps increased 2%; and Bath & Body Works comps increased 2%. Year-to-date (YTD) sales for the group were USD 4,804 million, compared to USD 4,353 million in the same period last year. YTD comps increased 9% when compared to the same period in 2009. Comps for Victoria's Secret stores increased 13%; La

Zumiez Inc. increased the settlement cost of a California class action regarding overtime pay and meal breaks to $2.1 million from $1.3 million reported last month. The Everett-based youth apparel retailer (NASDAQ: ZUMZ), in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, said "the lawsuit is similar to numerous lawsuits filed against retailers and others with operations in California. Although the company believes that the allegations in the lawsuit lack merit, it has agreed to a mediator's proposal to settle the claims in the lawsuit to avoid significant legal fees, other expenses and management time that would have to be devoted