Retail Stores

Apple has signed a 10-year deal with New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority to open the largest Apple store yet within Grand Central Terminal. Apple's retail push was said to be scrapped in March, then revived in May.

Inspired by TLC's show "Extreme Couponing," Sandy Beacham, a stay-at-home mother of five, is on a mission to save as much money as possible. She's saved the most on toiletries and personal items at drug stores, but she doesn't consider herself an extreme couponer like people on the show.

Coupons aren't a new idea; they've been around for many generations of shoppers and now they've taken on a new lease of life. Many of your customers are looking at their cost of living and the family budget and wondering where they can save money. The result is that they're being bombarded with discount offers in almost every shopping window.

Borders' liquidation will increase available U.S. retail space by as much as 6.3 million square feet, according to DJM Realty LLC, as the industry struggles with near-record vacancy rates and stagnant rents.

Dish Network Corp plans to keep open more than 90 percent of the Blockbuster stores it acquired in its $320 million deal for the video rental chain. Dish, the second largest U.S. satellite TV company, said it reached agreements with property owners allowing it to continue running more than 1,500 stores. In addition, it will retain more than 15,000 employees. Dish Network won Blockbuster in an April bankruptcy auction, further broadening its business beyond satellite TV and setting up a possible showdown with Netflix.

Major retailers including Wal-Mart, Walgreens and SUPERVALU are teaming up with Michelle Obama to open or expand a total of 1,500 stores in communities that are designated as "food deserts," or have limited access to nutritious food. The pledges, secured by the First Lady's Partnership for a Healthier America, will aid the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which aims to financially assist stores that open in areas where finding affordable health food can be difficult.

Borders Group's liquidation plan is set to proceed after receiving approval from a bankruptcy judge. A judge on Thursday approved the 40-year-old booksellers’ plan to appoint liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Group to sell off its assets. Going-out-of-business sales are set to begin at some stores Friday. About 30 to 35 of the stores could be sold to rival chain Books-a-Million Inc., but the two companies are still in talks. Books-A-Million, based in Birmingham, Ala., will become the second largest U.S. bookseller after Borders liquidates.

Products get knocked off all the time — designer bags, Oscar-night dresses, watches. But entire stores? That's something new. Which is why the internet is going crazy over a blogger's report that three fake Apple stores have popped up in her neighborhood in Kunming, China.

eBay Inc.'s PayPal online payment service and marketplaces business grew swiftly during the second quarter, helping its results beat analyst expectations, although charges from its recent purchase of retail website operator GSI Commerce cut its profit. For the quarter that ended June 30, eBay said it earned $283.4 million, or 22 cents per share, down 31 percent from $412 million, or 31 cents per share, a year earlier.

A new study titled power2thewomen2.0: the Shopping Trend Revolution Continues looks into the buying power of women and explores the similarities and differences in the shopping behaviors of Gen X, Gen Y and Baby Boomer women and the media channels that influence their buying decisions.