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Macy's, which traditionally kicks off the U.S. holiday shopping season with a nationally televised parade in Manhattan, will join a handful of other companies this year parading its ads on Facebook's fledgling video feeds. As the social media platform slowly rolls out its premium video offerings to advertisers, Macy's will launch its online video ads Thursday. "As we were anticipating Black Friday, we wanted to take a look at how the product evolved and try to figure out how to distribute our video in a balanced way," said Jennifer Kasper, Macy's group vice president for digital media and multicultural marketing.

Friday marks the official start of the holiday shopping season. Or rather, it used to — more and more stores are opening on Thanksgiving. That's why, at 6 p.m. Thursday, Albert Boscov, 85, will head to one of the company's 43 stores. "We don't like opening on Thanksgiving, because we screw up life for people," said Boscov, chairman of Boscov's Department Store, now celebrating its 100th anniversary. "We're open now because we have no choice," he said. "The business is so big, those few days that if you aren't open, they'll go somewhere else."

Gap has struck a deal with Zalando, Europe's largest dedicated online fashion retailer, to sell its core brand starting next May in the hopes of reaching more consumers, particularly in markets where it has no physical stores. Gap already delivers to 24 European countries from its own website and has more than 200 stores on the continent, but is not present on the ground in key markets such as Germany. Berlin-based Zalando started out selling shoes in 2008 and now ships 1,500 brands to customers in 15 European countries.

Home Depot faces at least 44 lawsuits in the United States and Canada over a massive data breach earlier this year that affected 56 million debit and credit cards. The nation's biggest home improvement retailer said Tuesday in a regulatory filing that several state and federal agencies also are looking into the data breach and it may face more litigation from customers, banks, shareholders and others. Home Depot said the litigation and the investigations may distract management and affect how it runs its business. It also could lead to additional costs and fines. 

A Black Friday sale at a big-box retailer is a dance that needs a master choreographer. As shoppers glide through aisles, lunge after merchandise and dart urgently in and out of line, there's an art to keeping them moving and happy. At the Best Buy in Alexandria, Va., that job belongs to Rob Delissio. And this year the store's general manager has left no detail to chance. 

Sex doesn't sell, so forget the boudoir shot. Blondes don't work. Props distract. Couches are fine. Playing with hair is ideal. Those are some of the insights lingerie company Adore Me has learned from testing the photos of models wearing its sexy products online. For each bra, Adore Me shoots multiple versions of images to run on its website. The distinctions between the pictures might include different models wearing the same set in the exact same position, or the same model in the same set in a different position. Then it tests the options to find out which sells better.

Small-town discount retailer Alco Stores will close after a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas approved an order by the company's creditors to shutter its stores. The court order Thursday follows the company's announcement last month that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Alco, based in the Dallas suburb of Coppell, said at the time that it intended to stay in business while reorganizing.

C. Wonder, the chain created by Tory Burch's ex-husband Christopher in 2011, has plans to shutter most of its stores and transition into a wholesale brand, BuzzFeed News has learned. The retailer will close up to 20 of its 32 locations by Jan. 1, depending on how lease negotiations unfold, two people familiar with the matter told BuzzFeed News on the condition of anonymity. C. Wonder, which bears a close likeness to Tory Burch's luxury brand, though is less expensive, has trimmed its corporate staff to around 75 people from near 120 in the past year, one person estimated.

Multiple sources have confirmed that Fab is in talks to sell to PCH International for $15 million, and possibly as much as $50 million, in a half cash and half stock deal. Contractual agreements are in the very early stages between the two companies. If it does happen, we've been told that some assets will be rolled into Fab founder Jason Goldberg's new furniture design company Hem and the rest will be taken over by PCH. Fab was once a Silicon Valley darling, raising $165 million (at a $1 billion valuation) just over a year ago. 

According to the latest data from Adobe, smartphones and tablets will account for $1.6 billion in sales on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. In an effort to tap into those sales, Stride Rite has launched a new RiteFit app, created to measure children's feet with accuracy and ease, directly from an iPad. The app is available for free on the iTunes App Store. Stride Rite collaborated with digital innovation partner MJD to develop this best-in-class solution to measure children's feet, anytime and anywhere.