Retail Stores

Today's consumers are turning their growing appreciation for gift cards into a public embrace. According to First Data's 2011 U.S. Prepaid Consumer Insights study, the average amount spent per closed-loop card grew in 2011, increasing by more than 23 percent compared to 2010. The average total amount consumers spent on closed loop gift cards increased to $211 from $161 last year.

The Commerce Department says retail sales rose at a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent last month. That's better than December's downwardly revised flat reading. And when excluding autos and gasoline station sales, retail spending jumped 0.6 percent, the best showing in three months.

Romance is alive and well this Valentine’s Day, but with a modern twist. Alliance Data, a provider of loyalty and marketing solutions and private label credit card programs for specialty retailers, recently conducted a Valentine’s Day survey to gauge consumers’ shopping behaviors and opinions related to purchasing and receiving gifts this year. In a surprising break from traditional gift-giving, approximately 10 percent of respondents said they intend to buy their own gifts this year, while traditionalists said candy tops their wish list.

When a big-box store such as Home Depot, Lowe's, Costco or Sam's Club comes to town, local businesses get nervous. How can they compete with the "everyday low prices"? How will they keep their customers? How will they attract new ones? After all, they don't have the advertising budget, inventory or buying power that big-box retailers do. While there's some reality to all of the concerns that a local or small business might have, they're really just excuses. Plenty of local and small businesses flourish long after these larger stores move into their territory.

Valentine's Day flowers symbolize more than love; they represent prosperity for the retail industry. And business is looking good not only for American retailers but also for Colombian flower growers.

The world's most popular mobile game, Angry Birds, can now lay claim to two physical retail outlets. The latest addition has landed in Finland's Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

Despite making a clean break with Costco in late 2010, Apple could be looking to expand its footprint with one of the wholesale retailer's rivals, a new report suggests.

Buying something special for a significant other is making a comeback this Valentine's Day. Consumers are expected to spend $17 billion on everything from chocolates, flowers and jewelry to greeting cards, clothing and even a special gift for a pet, marking a 23 percent increase in spending on the holiday from a low point during the recession of the late 2000s, Monetate reports.

Global clothing retailer and manufacturer American Apparel reports that it intends to equip all of its 280 stores with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, following a deployment of RFID readers and tags last year at 100 locations.

Google may open its first stand-alone retail store at its European headquarters in Dublin, according to a filing by the popular search engine. The Google store would be open to the public and sell unspecified "Google merchandise," Google's Irish unit said in a local planning application.