Retail Stores

For the holiday season to date, nearly $20 billion has been spent online, marking a 15 percent increase from the corresponding days last year. The most recent week saw three individual days eclipse $1 billion in spending, led by Cyber Monday, which became the heaviest online spending day on record at $1.25 billion.

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.

When Keds sneakers were launched back in 1916, the world was in the midst of World War I. Finally, 95 years into its existence, Keds is branching out and trying something new: apparel.

Talbots will close 83 stores by the end of the year and a total of 110 stores by the end of 2013 as part of its cost reduction program. The program is intended to generate approximately $50 million in annualized cost savings by the end of fiscal 2012.

An army of bargain hunters were out in force Black Friday weekend, while others are quietly scoping out the landscape in hopes of snagging last-minute sales, according to the latest America Research Group/UBS Holiday Retail Forecast.

The American Family Association has published a "Naughty or Nice" list to identify retailers that were "for" or "against" Christmas. The organization wants its members and those who support its cause to spend money with those retailers who are "for" Christmas.

It's safe to say that around the holiday season there's an influx of product returns, primarily clothing that's the wrong size. Unique Solutions has developed a new technology to address this problem. Me-Ality is a fitting room kiosk that takes a user's precise measurements to suggest what brands, styles and sizes would look best on…

While it was rumored to open before Thanksgiving, the Big Apple's shiny new Apple store will open at New York City's famed Grand Central Terminal on Dec. 9 — just in time to rake in the holiday season bucks as stressed-out commuters make their daily runs to and from the train.

Charming Shoppes said it's conducting a strategic review of its operations, which includes the divestiture of its Fashion Bug business and the expansion of its Lane Bryant brand.