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Gift card sales are expected to reach $100 billion in 2012, but after years of being a win-win for retailers, consumers are starting to take back the gift card power thanks to a highly profitable market: gift card resale.

Avon Products, famous for sending its representatives door to door, is losing traction in the U.S., where many time-stressed consumers are increasingly buying their cosmetics online. Operating profit per representative in the U.S. has plunged 75 percent over the past decade, according to an analysis by Sanford C. Bernstein.

Fashion retailer H&M reported several milestones in its recently released 2011 sustainability report, including reducing carbon emissions by 5 percent and increasing its use of organic cotton by 20 percent. H&M is now the biggest user of certified organic cotton in the world, according to the latest data reported by the Textile Exchange. H&M organic cotton use now represents 7.6 percent of the retailer's entire cotton use. By 2020, H&M says 100 percent of its cotton will come from more sustainable sources, including Better Cotton, organic cotton and recycled cotton. 

HSN has named Anne Martin-Vachon as its new chief merchandising officer, effective May 14. Martin-Vachon will oversee HSN's merchandising and planning teams and report directly to Mindy Grossman, CEO of HSNi. In her role as CMO, Martin-Vachon will oversee the product development, assortment, pricing, category expansion and merchandising of HSN brands across all product categories. In addition, she'll be responsible for the overall merchandising strategy, development of new product offerings and brand partners as well as work closely with HSN's executive team to determine investment opportunities to expand and complement HSN's diverse merchandise assortment. 

As the second part of a business collaboration, Wolverine Worldwide is purchasing a 49 percent stake in Forus' existing Colombian business, Forus SA Colombia, which currently has the rights to Wolverine's Hush Puppies and Cushe brands in Colombia. Forus SA Colombia currently owns and operates 23 retail locations and sells directly to Colombia's most important department stores and specialty footwear retailers.

Amid increased competition online to win shoppers’ discerning budgets, several midtier retailers have signed up with an online startup Netotiate (which it said means negotiate over the net) to allow shoppers to negotiate merchandise prices with them online.

eBay's revenue grew 29 percent in the first quarter year-over-year to $3.3 billion, and net income grew 20 percent to $570 million. The company released first quarter 2012 earnings on Wednesday, and eBay CEO John Donahoe sounded upbeat on a post-earnings conference call with Wall Street analysts. Donahoe said eBay's PayPal unit was focused on innovation and the eBay Marketplaces business had turned the corner, shifting from "defense" to "offense." He also said there would be a "steady stream of product enhancements on eBay" this year. 

A Ventura, Calif. judge approved a settlement that forces CVS Caremark Corp. to pay $13.75 million to settle California claims that it illegally disposed of hazardous waste at California stores. CVS came under investigation in 2010 after allegations were made that the drugstore chain had mishandled medical, pharmaceutical and photographic waste at California stores over a seven-year period.

/PRNewswire/ -- Under Armour, Inc. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110127/NE37387LOGO ) First quarter apparel net revenues increased 23% to $283 million compared with $230 million in the same period of the prior year, driven by balanced performance across Men's, Women's, and Youth apparel businesses and introductions of innovative apparel products like ColdBlack and Armour Bra. Direct-to-Consumer net revenues, which represented 25% of total net revenues for the first quarter, grew 49% year-over-year. First quarter Footwear net revenues increased 24% to $64 million from $51 million in the prior year's period, primarily driven by new 2012 running styles and strength in baseball cleats.