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RICHFIELD, Minn. - A scanned version of the Best Buy Black Friday ad on BestBuy.com wishes Muslims a happy Eid al-Adha, which falls on the extended Thanksgiving weekend. Since the ad was posted, a message board on BestBuy.com has filled up with plenty of responses. Tuesday morning, a discussion of the ad on BestBuy.com had more than 100 responses. Some of those comments were supportive of the greeting and some called for a boycott of the retailer, including boldly racist remarks. Here's a look at some of the posts on the BestBuy.com message board : I worked part time at...

As you can see here (via TechCrunch) a few people are mad that BestBuy’s thanksgiving advertisement features a 14-letter phrase (or 15 if you count the hyphen). Who’s going to BestBuy this weekend?

Here it comes: Best Buy ran a national Black Friday ad inviting the world to celebrate Thanksgiving and Eid Al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice. Fair enough, right? Happy Eid!

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US retailers are taking desperate measures to spark holiday sales in the face of what promises to be another troubled year-end shopping season. Merchants are furiously working to ramp up consumer interest ahead of "Black Friday," on November 27, the day after the Thanksgiving Day holiday that marks the traditional kickoff of the holiday gift season. Some are promising price cuts of 50 percent or more on some hot electronics, and planning for big events to bring out shoppers for big sales promotions.

Shop Thanksgiving Day at Bestbuy.com

There are only 35 shopping days left until Christmas. I'm keenly aware of this primarily because of those overcaffeinated Glee-show-choir-in-red-white-and-blue-alpine-sweaters-and-ear-flaps-making-high school-cheerleading-pyramids Gap ads that started running about a week ago. You know, the ones where they chant a little ditty titled, annoyingly, "Happy Dowhateveryouwannukah." "Go Christmas! Go Hannukah! Go Kwanzaa! Go Solstice!" the exceptionally good-looking, multicultural, skinny-jeans-clad cheerbots shout. "You 86 the rules, you do what just feels right," they cheer, before entreating us to "do whatever [we] wannukkah" this ambiguous winter holiday season. Their jangly dance number ends by wishing us "a cheery night." How festive, you say? Meh....

It's not Thanksgiving yet, and already it's nearly impossible to find a Zhu Zhu Pet. The fuzzy, life-size mechanical hamsters are emerging as the early runaway success of the season. They coo and purr as they scurry around the house. Unlike the real thing, they don't smell, die, or make noise at 3 a.m. And the toy comes appropriately priced for this economy: $8 at Wal-Mart and Target - except they often don't have any. "It's a frenzy," said Paul Jones, chief executive officer at Green Bay-based Shopko. "It's the Tickle Me Elmo of past years."The Zhu Zhu isn't the...

When the U.S. holiday shopping season kicks off on the day after Thanksgiving, retailers can expect to see millions of less frightened but even more bargain hungry customers cross their thresholds. Industry experts expect a strong turnout on Black Friday, which falls on November 27 this year, as deep discounts lure shoppers after more than a year of subdued spending. But they caution it will not mean a bumper holiday season in the weeks leading up to Christmas since consumers still remain cautious. "Given what we know about consumer shopping patterns, even this month, I would suspect it will turn...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wal-Mart's much-awaited Black Friday deals will focus on a gamut of gadgets such as high-definition TVs, laptops and Blu-ray players, as well as holiday gift favorites such as toys and DVDs, according to a copy of the retailer's circular obtained by CNNMoney.com. While not confirming the entire circular, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman confirmed some of the deals, which will be available between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. local time on Nov. 27, that appear in the leaked circular. "There's a lot of excitement that builds up around electronics," said Wal-Mart's Tara Raddohl. Items with confirmed prices for...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Retailers beware. Some tried-and-true discounting tactics for pepping up holiday season sales can be a boon for some products -- but a bust for others. First-of-its kind research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business confirms that certain kinds of point-of-purchase discounts can effectively attract more buyers in the short-term but for some products can tarnish sales and brand equity over time.

Wal-Mart announces second round of toy price cuts By: Reuters | 02 Nov 2009 | 12:23 AM ET Text Size By Nicole Maestri NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Monday announced its second round of price cuts on toys as the world's biggest retailer backs up its intention to be the "price leader" this holiday shopping season. U.S. Walmart stores are cutting prices on 100 toys, like the Buzz Lightyear talking action figure and Star Wars light sabers, by roughly 20 percent to 30 percent. The cuts are in addition to ones the retailer implemented at the end...

Wal-Mart Starts Selling Coffins The caskets can be dispatched to buyers within 48 hours The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, now plans to hold on to customers even after they die - by selling coffins. Prices range from a "Mom" or "Dad Remembered" steel coffin for $895 (£540), to a bronze model at $2,899. The retailer is allowing customers to plan ahead by paying for the caskets over 12 months for no interest. They can be dispatched within 48 hours. Catering for cradle-to-grave needs, Wal-Mart already sells everything from baby wear to engagement rings. A spokesman for the supermarket giant, Ravi...

Wal-Mart starts selling caskets, urns online By EMILY FREDRIX, AP Retail Writer Wed Oct 28, 4:03 pm ET MILWAUKEE – The world's largest retailer wants to keep its customers even after they die. Wal-Mart has started selling caskets on its Web site at prices that undercut many funeral homes, long the major seller of caskets. The move follows a similar one by discount rival Costco, which also sells caskets on its site. Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., quietly put up about 15 caskets and dozens of urns on its Web site last week. Prices range from $999 for models like...

PORTLAND, Ore. - With many families suddenly struggling to feed themselves, the big warehouse clubs known for king-size packages of steak and jumbo boxes of Cheerios are increasingly competing with grocery stores for the 36 million Americans now on food stamps. Costco Wholesale Corp. said Wednesday that it would start accepting food stamps at its warehouse clubs nationwide after testing them at stores in New York. That is a big about-face for a chain that has catered to the bargain-hunting affluent with its gourmet foods, and a reflection of the fact food-stamp use has hit new highs.

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- It seems like only days ago that Wal-Mart was the most evil company on the planet. The list of accusations: It locked workers in stores overnight and ignored overtime rules; it didn't give health-care benefits to a lot of workers; and its execs dreaded union organizers so much they actually shut down a store to avoid letting the labor guys in the front door. Equality for women employees? Forget about it. That was for East Coast, Hillary-loving wimps, or Wegman's, to worry about. And then there was the part about alleged sweatshops in China. (Sam Walton,...

Online spending down as holiday season nears Recession puts brakes on fast-paced growth of e-commerce By Ylan Q. Mui Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, October 24, 2009 Online retail's runaway growth has hit a wall as consumers have cut back on the discretionary spending that drives the industry's sales. According to research firm comScore, e-commerce sales have been steadily declining this year, with spending not including travel dropping 2 percent in the third quarter. That has set the stage for a tough holiday season, which can account for as much as half of annual sales. "It's not pretty at all...

Unintended Consequences By Ian Mathias 10/22/09 Baltimore, Maryland – Follow this one… how the recent rise in retail sales might bust the housing “recovery”: “Retail sales growth is understandably proving meager and hard to regenerate,” writes our macro sage Rob Parenteau, “in a nation where private debt deleveraging is under way and net job generation has yet to return. The early read on consumer expectations for October shows a seven-point drop, which is very indicative of the hesitancy that we suspect will characterize the tentative return to higher spending by U.S. households. Too many rugs have been ripped out from...

Research Firms Predict Sad Christmas David BodamerOct. 20, 2009, 3:09 PM Most of the major predictions are now in for the holiday shopping season. Here we’ve put together a roundup of what various trade associations and research outlets are predicting. Projections range a bit this year. Some groups are calling for a slight decline, other say sales will be flat and some say sales will show a slight uptick. In part, the differences stem from the different way the groups look at the numbers. ICSC and Retail Forward, for example, looks at same-store sales while the National Retail Federation looks...

For most retail stores, staying in business for only a few days would be considered a major flop. But a growing number of merchants are opening shops and abruptly shutting them down soon after -- on purpose. These quickie retail operations -- known as pop-ups -- are showing up throughout Southern California and around the nation, filling in the gaps at recession-battered shopping centers for a fraction of the regular rents. Once limited to seasonal shops and dusty liquidation centers, pop-up stores are now being opened by some of the nation's biggest retailers. It's a trend that could reshape the...

NEW YORK – An online book special offered by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is turning into a full-fledged price war with Amazon.com. Wal-Mart got things started Thursday, offering $10 prices on such upcoming hardcover releases as Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" and John Grisham's "Ford County," a cut of 60 percent or more from the regular cost. Wal-Mart will also offer free shipping. Amazon.com, the largest online bookseller, matched the $10 price, prompting Wal-Mart to take its offer to $9. By Friday morning, Amazon.com also had priced the books at $9. The price cuts come at a time when Seattle-based Amazon.com and...

Hi Fellow FReepers, Just off the phone to Sears at 1-800-697-3277 where I reported my outrage at the companies sponsorship of NBC NFL Games broadcast by left wing nut job Keith Olberman. The wonderful lady I spoke with agreed with me wholeheartedly.She shared my opinion of both the NFL's reverse racism at excluding Rush from buying into the SL Rams and the obnoxious behavior of sportscaster Keith Olberman.She told me that I should concentrate my efforts at Sears corporate officers in Chicago. Here is the telephone number where we can speak directly to Sears and the people that can turn...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. launched a brash price war against Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday, saying it would sell 10 hotly anticipated new books for just $10 apiece through its online site, Walmart.com. That was just the beginning.

A recent shift in merchandising strategy by the world's largest retailer spells more trouble for DVD sales and the entertainment industry that depends on them for profits. As part of a larger effort to clean up its aisles and appeal to higher-end shoppers, Wal-Mart is doing away with display cases to promote the latest hot movie titles. The move comes as major film studios are reeling from declines in revenue from DVD sales as cash-strapped consumers turn to low-cost rental services and digital downloads for home movies. "We think the new strategy implies Wal-Mart no longer sees DVDs and Blu-ray...

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Retail Federation today released its 2009 holiday forecast, projecting holiday retail industry sales to decline one percent this year to $437.6 billion.*

Retailers pushing to reduce costs and maximize margins in the face of sales declines are dead serious about optimizing assortments -- and in a growing number of cases, that's translating to significantly reducing SKUs or even cutting whole product lines, according to the Willard Bishop retail consultancy.

InkStop Inc., a specialty retailer of ink, toner, consumer electronics and other supplies for small businesses and home offices, abruptly told its employees that it was shuttering all 152 stores nationwide as of Friday and laying off all workers until further notice. "The company has elected to temporarily close all stores at the close of business today, Oct. 1, to focus on a restructuring plan in an effort to improve the overall operations of the organization," the Warrensville Heights company told employees in a letter sent late Thursday.

Whoopie Goldberg thinks that Roman Polanski's rape of that young girl 30+ years ago was not "Rape Rape"She's now featured on the cover of the latest Toys 'R Us Kids circularIf this is not disgusting enough, his current wife is 43 years old which is the approximate age today of the young girl he raped all those years ago. I Called Toys 'R Us at: 1-800-869-7787 and the woman who answered the phone was very nice and also shocked to find out this info.I told her that they were off my X-Mas shopping list permanently. Please call and let them...

Whoopi Goldberg,who defended child-rapist Roman Polanski on The View,is now featured in an advertisement for one of the biggest children's toy stores in the nation.Toys R Us must be proud.....

Half the respondents of a new poll say taxing the richest Americans by at least 50 percent is a great idea, while more than a third consider Twitter a fad that will likely fade. Those are among the findings of a new "60 Minutes"-Vanity Fair Poll released Sunday. Nearly half of the respondents chose Wal-Mart as the institution that best symbolizes America today, leaving in the dust runners-up Google, Microsoft, the NFL, and the banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs. Dining out was chosen most often by respondents as a luxury they hate sacrificing in these tough economic times. And...

A Minneapolis woman is still trying to come to grips with what happened to her guide dog Thursday night at the downtown Target store. Lolly Lijewski and her dog Brook had just gone into the store when a woman kicked the working dog. A stranger passing by stepped in to help. "As I was coming into the foyer of the store, my dog's feet seemed to go out from under her," said Lijewski. Lijewski didn't know what happened to her service dog. "Then there was a young girl to our left who said, 'Someone just kicked your dog,'" said Lijewski....

Dan Fuchs said business was just starting to pick up at his kiosk in the Mall at Johnson City. Fuchs’ business, the Graphic Edge, printed slogans and pictures on items such as coffee cups, bumper stickers and T-shirts. He said more than half of his business came from the sale of anti-Obama merchandise. Bumper stickers with slogans such as “SOS: Stop Obama’s Socialism,” “Nobama,” and “Chicago got the party, but the country got the hangover” were displayed around the small stand. Now it appears Fuchs is out of business at the mall, but mall officials say this decision was not...

Dan Fuchs is a local businessman who set up a graphic arts kiosk at The Johnson City, Tennessee mall. Business was slow until a customer suggested he try selling stickers with the NoBama message. Business picked up and he expanded his line of 'anti-Obama' stickers. Today, mall administration terminated Fuchs' lease after it began receiving complaints about the allegedly 'anti-Obama' merchandise. Fuchs said he also sold 'pro-Obama' stickers, but the mall administration felt he wasn't offering a fair balance between anti and pro Obama stickers. In the video story on Channel 11's website, the mall spokeswoman inexplicably says that the...

Everyone seems to think we're coming out of the recession, but a report due Monday suggests the much-ballyhooed recovery is still far away. Chicagoans put the brakes on shopping in the first half of the year, cutting back more dramatically than in previous recessions and signaling a bleak holiday shopping season ahead, according to the report from Chicago-based Melaniphy & Associates Inc. Retail sales in the metropolitan Chicago area fell a record $5.8 billion, or 11.5 percent, to $44.8 billion in the first six months of 2009 from the same period a year ago, said the report, based on recently...

Below is an excerpt from the book "1,001 Things They Won't Tell You," which was published in May 2009 and highlights popular columns from SmartMoney's long-running "10 Things" feature.

The Council on American Islamic Relations is at it again. Once again they are trying to get companies across the country to fall in line and cater to Islam. If things do not change, Islam will eventually win by taking over from within.

Factory stores' price markdowns are alluring, but those 'deals' are often less than they seem. Getting your money's worth takes a little legwork. Americans have a long-standing love affair with bargains. Look no further than the warehouse clubs, discount stores and outlet malls that carpet the country. But in a persuasive new book, "Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture," Ellen Ruppel Shell, a correspondent for The Atlantic, describes the web of marketing and manipulation that discount retailers use to drain cash from your wallet. Outlet malls are among the worst offenders, Shell says, with their glittering promises of "the...

Houston, TX (AHN) - Police in Pasadena, Texas have recovered $2 million worth of stolen goods at three Houston locations upon arresting a suspected burglar that hit J.C. Penneys and other stores in three states. Wednesday's arrest of Ricky Orlando Garcia, 38, came after the burglary of J.C. Penney stores in Fairmont Parkway, Indianapolis, Rosenberg and Covington, Louisiana from June to August. The stores have holes in their roofs where the burglar entered.Other burglaries in Hays and Dallas counties in 2008 are being blamed on Garcia. Burglary charges have been filed against him in Rosenberg, Lafayette and St. Tammany Parish.

Millions of Americans who shop at Costco receive the retail giant’s monthly magazine The Costco Connection. I have to confess however that my copy of the publication usually never makes it past the garage. Not so the recent August issue, which promotes on the cover a “Back to School” series of essays for parents and children. Since one of the essays promised to take on the issue of bullying, I decided to take a closer look. Bullies seem to be everywhere these days. From the schoolyard to the political arena thugs young and old have been learning that threats and...

Liz Claiborne hires turnaround firm NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Liz Claiborne Inc said on Thursday it hired turnaround firm Alvarez & Marshal on a "short term basis" to help the clothing and accessories maker improve operations and cash flow. "We have a good relationship with our bank group and, as part of our ongoing discussions with them, agreed to hire a consultant," Robert Vill, Liz Claiborne's treasurer and vice president of finance, said in a statement. Vill said the company engaged the firm "on a short term basis to review our working capital and cost reduction plans in...

At a time when retail landlords are struggling with record vacancies, a novel sales strategy employed by some tenants is helping them fill the gaps and earn some additional rental income. Pop-up stores, which allow a retailer to sign a temporary lease lasting anywhere from two months to six months, have traditionally been scoffed at by mall and shopping center owners who could take their pick of permanent tenants. But in today’s environment, with retailers wary of new store openings, pop-ups are becoming a hot new trend and landlords are finding it suits them just fine. “I am seeing more...

The economic downturn has made an already competitive retail landscape especially brutal and unforgiving. Exhibit A is the rivalry between discount retailers Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target (TGT). The clear winner in the current downturn was Wal-Mart. Amid millions of job losses and plunging stock and housing markets, new customers flocked to Wal-Mart, at the expense of almost every other U.S. retailer except ultralow-price dollar stores. It appears that "cheap chic" -- Target's famous selling point -- is not the primary concern of recession-battered consumers. Last quarter, the average U.S. Wal-Mart store actually saw traffic increase 1.3% from the year before....

Rather than summarize, let me just highlight some of his best one-liners: On retail: "The retail business is terrible... It's almost all negative." "We're going to close hundreds of thousands of stores." On the consumer: "They’re still over leveraged, they're losing jobs, their credit has been cut back." On America: "We are in the tank forever. As a country we are out of control, we're in a death spiral." On the stock market: "We're in terrible shape. That's what the fundamentals tell me. I can't explain the stock market."

CHICAGO (CBS) ― America's shopping centers are under stress. As big-name retailers scale back and auto dealerships close up shop, they leave behind an alarming number of vacant stores scarring many communities. In today's economy it's expected they'll sit there for years. CBS 2's Vince Gerasole checks out the "Big Box Bust." The sites are sometimes marked by graffiti or with weeds growing through cracks in once-busy parking lots. Each is a massive commercial space now a shell of its former self. Shelves that brimmed with linens and things are now empty, thanks to a troubled economy. "From coast to...

See article for story...Forbes did a story yesterday regarding this story and here is a quote: "Just in time for back to school, mall mainstay J.C. Penney got interesting. Thanks to a nasty New York Times review of its new store across from competitor Macy's ( M - news - people ) in New York's Herald Square, fans from Savanna to San Francisco as well as bloggers and journalists kept J.C. Penney ( JCP - news - people ) in print for a week solid. They're irate with writer Cintra Wilson and her comments regarding the "obese mannequins" and "Middle...

(In the downturn, Wal-Mart's low prices have trumped Target's cheap chic. With a recovery on the way, the discount giants are readying for the next chapter in their rivalry...) The economic downturn has made an already competitive retail landscape especially brutal and unforgiving. Exhibit A is the rivalry between discount retailers Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target (TGT). The clear winner in the current downturn was Wal-Mart. Amid millions of job losses and plunging stock and housing markets, new customers flocked to Wal-Mart, at the expense of almost every other U.S. retailer except ultralow-price dollar stores.It appears that "cheap chic"—Target's famous selling...

A cashier at Target in Los Angeles checks the authenticity of $100 bills. Some retailers don't expect conditions to improve until next spring. Major retailers reported that American consumers are continuing to hunker down, casting a cloud over the durability of the U.S. recovery and underscoring the importance of overseas demand in restoring the world economy to health.Retailers across the spectrum provided foreboding reports. Discounter Target Corp. reported that sales at stores open at least a year were down 6.2% from a year earlier in the quarter ended Aug. 1, while luxury purveyor Saks Inc. reported a 15.5% drop...

Well...maybe not the entire retail segment of the economy, but one area that's doing well is anti- Obama merchandise. Vendors who were once capitalizing on the "YES WE CAN" slogan have now started to sell the "NO HE CAN'T" versions of tee shirts , buttons and bumper stickers. The economic stimulus and the current debate on health care, coupled with pending legislation on Cap and Trade have not only helped to refuel the Tea Party movement, it has brought out a new entrepreneurial spirit among the "anger merchandisers". Fox News reports along with the Washington Times that business is good....

Downturn Pushes Escada into Bankruptcy Escada, the German luxury fashion brand, filed for bankruptcy protection with a Munich court, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Escada was badly hit by the global economic downturn and had been negotiating with bondholders to restructure its debts, but the negotiations were broken off on Tuesday. Along with the recent bankruptcy of Lacroix, the French luxury clothing brand, the Escada case reveals the heavy toll the recession is taking on the high-end fashion industry. According to French newspaper Le Monde, Italian luxury fashion brands are also suffering from serious financial woes. Gianfranco Ferre, one of the...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - U.S. consumers tightened up their purse strings in July as retail sales pulled back slightly in July even with the "cash for clunkers" boost. The decline was unexpected following two months of modest growth.The Commerce Department reported its preliminary data on U.S. retail sales for July, sales fell 0.1 percent for the month, which was quite the opposite of a 0.8 percent increase economists had expected. Sales were up 0.8 percent in June and had risen the month before as well, the first back to back increases in roughly a year. Although sales have seen improvement...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans shopped less in July and more signed up for jobless benefits last week in a double dose of bad news for the U.S. economy just a day after the Federal Reserve said it saw a leveling out of the slump. A Commerce Department report on Thursday showed total retail sales edged down 0.1 percent after increasing 0.8 percent in June. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, sales fell 0.6 percent in July after rising 0.5 percent the prior month. Analysts had expected a boost to retail sales from the government's "cash for clunkers" program and predicted a...