Retail Stores

The best chain stores deliver a predictable consistency. It's comforting to know that wherever you go, a familiar retailer will fulfill your expectations. That's a key reason for Ralph Lauren's success. It operates about 374 stores worldwide that reflect the founder's image and offer a reassuringly consistent shopping experience. Every product seeks to convey a slice of the American dream based on a storybook narrative of good taste and style.

Steve Jobs, Disney's largest investor, had inspired the company to "think big." The new Disney Store at the Mall of America may share its kid clientele with nearby Legoland and Nickelodeon Universe, but the retailer shares its heart with an outlet just several feet away: the Apple store. With its seamless marriage of technology and brand, Disney's new concept stores have taken a page or two from Apple's vaunted retail playbook. Which makes sense, since Apple's founder/CEO, the late Steve Jobs, was the largest shareholder in the Walt Disney Co. and served on its board of directors.

With retailers offering the best deals of the year on everything from electronics to home decor to apparel, consumers are taking advantage of deals to snap up items for themselves and nongift items for their families.

Finish Line now offers e-gift cards on its website, Facebook page and mobile storefront. The gift cards can be personalized with a photo and unique text and audio messages, making it a customized gift for any sports enthusiast.

Swedish fashion chain H&M has admitted to using computer-generated models to showcase a range of collections on its website. The virtual models look completely human, but if you look closely, they all have the same body shape and pose.

What are consumers looking for when it comes to updating holiday décor this year? Google searches reveal several trends for decking the halls in the 2011 holiday season.

In response to feedback Retail Online Integration received yesterday regarding the reporting of this story, here's another take on the issue from the American Family Association.

Understanding there are times their gift may not be the biggest hit, more gift-givers are offering their loved ones the option to return their gift guilt-free. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2011 Holiday Returns Survey, 61.9 percent of holiday shoppers say they provide a gift receipt most or some of the time, the highest percent in the survey’s history.

A day after Amazon announced that it would give shoppers up to $15 for using its Price Check app in a brick-and-mortar store and buying that item from Amazon afterward, prominent retail groups are lashing out at the e-commerce giant.

Teen retailer Pacific Sunwear, hoping for a financial turnaround after a three-year slump, said it plans to close as many as 200 of its weaker-performing stores around the country.