Editors Take: 2010 Recovery Requires New Thinking

The exceptions have been Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, The TJX Cos. and a few others. Otherwise, just about anything not marked down accumulated dust in fulfillment centers or on store counters.

Consumers Rule More Than Ever
Meanwhile, as consumers held back, they got a whole lot wiser about how the retail game is played. If retailers, catalog marketers and to a lesser extent online merchants (notwithstanding Amazon.com) were running the merchandise-selling game all along, the rules changed this year. Meet the new boss — quite different from the old boss.