aggregatedcontent

New York-based Liz Claiborne Inc. announced plans to exit its 87 Liz Claiborne-branded outlet stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company plans to leave its outlet stores within the next few months, and put its organizational energy and resources toward the support of its retail-based direct brands, the Liz Claiborne brand at JCPenney and Liz Claiborne New York at QVC, both set to launch in August. The company's other outlet stores, including its Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand, Kate Spade and Kensie brands, will not be impacted by this decision. The company will provide more comments on

Borders announced the launch of a new textbook marketplace featuring more than 1.4 million titles, including a large selection of used textbooks. The Borders Textbook Marketplace was created in partnership with Alibris and features college, high school, middle and elementary school textbooks as well as other titles often used in classrooms. The site also supports the textbook needs of home-schooled children. In addition to saving on their purchases, students can also earn extra cash by utilizing the site's used textbook buyback option, which is powered by Chegg.com, the Buyback service for Alibris.

Some are questioning whether Forever 21, a young women's fashion chain, is in some way encouraging teen pregnancy now that it has launched its 'Love 21 Maternity' line of clothes. Do you think Forever 21 is encouraging teen pregnancy with a line of maternity wear? REGISTRATION ONLY TAKES A MINUTE! To read the complete content of this article and participate in the discussion, click the button below and sign up now! Existing subscribers, use the login below. Already registered? Log in here: Handle: Remember my login. Forgot your handle or password? Click here. FREE REGISTRATION... click here. RetailWire is

With retailers forced to take a hard look at their bottom lines during the recession, catalogs are adjusting, but not disappearing, says Leslie Linevsky, founder of Catalogs.com. As postage rates climb and customers become concerned about the environmental impact, retailers are scaling back on the number of catalogs they mail out and are using them to drive traffic to their websites.

Amazon.com said it reached a milestone, selling more e-books than hardbacks over the past three months, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. In a statement Monday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said the company’s Kindle e-reading device had experienced tripled growth since the company lowered its price to $189 from $259 last month, following� � to cut the price on its Nook e-reader.Amazon said Kindle device sales accelerated each month in the second quarter -- both on a sequential month-over-month basis and on a year-over-year basis.Still, Amazon said its hardback book unit sales also continued to increase.

Forever 21, a clothing chain that attracts many under-21 customers with its inexpensive, trendy fashions, is being questioned about its motives in choosing a select group of states to carry its recently launched maternity line. The line, called Love 21 Maternity, is currently available in Arizona, Alaska, California, Utah and Texas.

Target Corp. said it will offer its first-ever “Back in Black Friday” online sale on July 23 as an effort to jump-start holiday shopping. According to the retailer, Target.com will feature "Daily Deals" on July 23, an online-only sale beginning at approximately 12:00 a.m. (PDT) and concluding at 11:59 p.m. (PDT).“At Target.com, we are committed to offering our guests tremendous value every day. With our first-ever Back in Black Friday, guests will find incredible bargains before the holiday season with the added convenience of online shopping," said Steve Eastman, president, Target.com.The online-only sale will offer an average of a

Office Depot will open its first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Commercial Interiors (CI) registered store. The global provider of office products and services expects the Austin, Texas, store to be certified a few months after opening.

Home furnishings retailer Jennifer Convertibles said Monday that it has filed for reorganization bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The retailer said it has reached an agreement with its largest creditor and key foreign supplier Haining Mengnu Co. Ltd. Group under which Mengnu will continue to supply goods and will convert a large portion of its pre-petition debt into common equity, allowing Jennifer Convertibles to stay in business.Jennifer Convertibles was unsuccessful in efforts to obtain alternative financing to cover substantial losses.The plan is pending approval from the bankruptcy court.

Tension is rising in the apparel industry, as retailers push garment makers for faster turnaround on smaller orders ahead of the key Christmas holiday season. The old model — where retailers placed orders six months to nine months in advance and suppliers ramped up factories to produce high volumes cheaply — has been thrown out the window after a recession that left stores swamped with unsold clothes and idled factories.