Retail Stores

Simon Doonan need not fear his absence from decorating the holiday windows at Barneys this year because Lady Gaga has created the Gaga Workshop. Barneys has launched a microsite that will debut a product a day from the workshop available for purchase. The retailer is calling it the "12 Days of Gaga."

It might as well be called Black Thursday. Joining a slew of other national retailers, Wal-Mart said it too will open its doors nationwide on Thanksgiving night. Not to be one-upped by Target, which recently announced it would open at midnight on Black Friday, Wal-Mart said it will kick off its Black Friday deals at 10 p.m. on Thursday.

Continuing the tradition of giving shoppers a jump-start on the Black Friday holiday, Gap announced that nearly 1,000 stores across its brands in the U.S. will open on Thanksgiving. Eighty percent of the Old Navy stores in America will open, along with stores from the Gap, Banana Republic, Gap Outlet, and Banana Republic Factory divisions.

Kohl's is the nation's favorite fashion retail chain, according to an annual consumer survey conducted by Market Force Information, a provider of customer intelligence solutions. This is the third year in a row that Kohl's has earned the top spot.

Willams-Sonoma’s PBteen brand opened its first-ever pop-up store on Nov. 4 in Natick, Mass. The space is centered around the PBteen Design Lab, four computer terminals where shoppers can create a dream room by selecting and placing PBteen furniture and accessories in their virtual room.

Forget getting up early for Black Friday, shoppers will now need to stay up late. Best Buy announced it's joining Macy's, Target and Kohl's in opening at midnight following Thanksgiving.

Christmas '11: The Retail Forecast, a half-day conference presented by the Retail Marketing Society on Nov. 1 in New York City, showcased Morgan Stanley analysts naming eight cross-channel retailers they're betting on for success this holiday season. In part one of this article in yesterday's ROI Report, I highlighted Macy's, Nordstrom, ANN INC. and Coach. Today I report on what the analysts expect for Limited Brands, Amazon and eBay this holiday season.

What we see as brand loyalty is actually more the effects of comfort and laziness than anything else. Furthermore, we'll defend that comfort to the death. This results in some bad buying decisions, which is especially bad come holiday shopping season.

It's safe to say that we all know mommyhood changes shopping behavior. For many moms, one change is that it seems to take all the fun out of shopping. Before they have kids, women described shopping as "relaxed," "impulsive," and "social." Being out with their friends is fun. That all changes when their shopping companion no longer pushes a cart, but rides in one.

Sears has introduced mobile shopping walls in high-traffic areas. The shopping walls, which will feature top toys that consumers can purchase from their smartphone by scanning a product's QR code, will be available in select malls and at bus shelters nationwide.