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New York -- Tommy Bahama will open its first New York City location in October. Dubbed the Tommy Bahama “Manhattan Island,” the 8,500-sq.-ft. store will also include a bar and restaurant. It will be located in an Art Deco building on Fifth Avenue at 45th Street. The tropics-inspired lifestyle apparel retailer has covered the façade of its store with a barricade featuring imagery of a woman in a bathing suit holding a tropical drink on the 5th Avenue side, and a man alongside a swimming pool surrounded by palm trees and grass on 45th Street side.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Former Sony Electronics executive, Steve Haber, is joining Sears Holdings as SVP and president, home appliances. In his new role with Sears Holdings, Haber will lead the company's effort to continue driving profitable growth in its industry-leading appliance business. "Home appliances is a cornerstone of our business and our Kenmore brand is in the lives of 100 million Americans," said Ron Boire, Sears Holdings' executive vice president, chief merchandising officer and president, Sears and Kmart formats. "Steve is a proven executive with a deep understanding of what is important to customers – value, quality, innovation

Etsy is letting users opt in to a test of its search results page designed to help shoppers browse listings. Etsy wrote in a press release, "Browsing on Etsy can feel like a conversation. You enter a search, then you refine, navigate and click around in order to find the perfect item. Oftentimes you might see one or two items that stand out from the rest, but want to find more before making a purchase."

Wal-Mart has agreed to pay $2.1 million for not complying with a judgment against the chain for overcharging customers in California, the attorney general's office said. The 2008 judgment had directed the retailer to fix pricing errors discovered during a government investigation into its California stores.

GOODLETSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General's quarterly profit surged 33% to a record $299 million, from $226 million in the prior year. Sales increased 20.1% to $4.19 billion, compared with $3.49 billion in the year-ago period. Same-store sales rose 6.5%. For the full year, profit rose 26% to $819 million, from $649 million in 2010. Sales surged 13.6% to $14.8 billion, from $13 billion last year. Same-store sales rose 6%. After opening 625 stores in 2011, Dollar General said Thursday it plans to open another 625 units in 2012, which will include 40 of its Dollar General Market stores and

New York -- Lululemon Athletica Inc.’s income rose 34.2% to $73.5 million for the three months ended Jan. 29, from $54.8 million in the year ago period. Revenue in the fourth quarter was up 51.4% to $371.5 million, from $245.4 million. Same-store sales increased 26%. For the year, sales rose 40.6% to $1 billion. Profits were up 51.1% to $184.1 million.

WAYNE, N.J. — The decision to open fewer Express stores during the 2011 holiday selling season, along with a decline in comparable-store sales both in the United States and internationally, contributed to Toys“R”Us's fourth-quarter net sales decline of $47 million to $5.9 billion. On a positive note, the company's new ventures in Greater China and Southeast Asia have offset the sales decline. Toys"R"Us said its strongest performing categories continue to be learning and core toys, while the entertainment category (which includes electronics, video game hardware and software) was the weakest, declining 7.3%. Net earnings were $343 million, an increase

The Bodymetrics Pod was recently showcased in a Bloomingdale's store in Los Angeles as part of the store's Women's Denim Days event. The futuristic looking capsule uses eight Windows Kinect sensors to 360-degree scan your body before finding a pair of jeans that can fit and flatter your body type. The body mapping only takes five seconds and requires the user to stand upright with the arms and legs apart inside the pod.

New York drugstore Duane Reade is placing mobile barcodes on store windows to drive social media impressions and foot traffic. 

The Wave 2 2011-2012 Empathica Consumer Insights Panel surveyed more than 5,000 U.S. and Canadian consumers on their sentiments toward luxury goods purchases, from overall customer service to preferred shopping channels and service levels to product research behaviors. The survey was conducted within a broader look at consumer spending behaviors and intentions based on current economic factors.