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Abercrombie & Fitch has had strong financial results since mid-2010, but it was one of the slowest major retailers to respond to the new reality of the recession, and as a result its recovery lagged far behind most of its competitors.

AFA's 2010 listing of top retailers and how they recognize Christmas Based on current advertising, below is a list of companies that avoid, ban, or use the term "Christmas" in their advertising. We will continually update the list, so check back often. Criteria - AFA reviewed up to four areas to determine if a company was "Christmas-friendly" in their advertising: print media (newspaper inserts), broadcast media (radio/television), website and/or personal visits to the store. If a company's ad has references to items associated with Christmas (trees, wreaths, lights, etc.), it was considered as an attempt to reach "Christmas" shoppers. If...

The Union of Jewish Students in France (UEJF) announced on Sunday that Swastikas had been discovered last Thursday on the frontages and windows of a dozen kosher stores in Paris. A police source in Paris said that four Nazi swastikas were traced with a black marker on two shops, as well as on the wall of a Jewish school and on a nearby building of the Boulevard Voltaire (which is located in Paris’ 11th district). UEJF described the incident as “a new demonstration of anti-Semitic hatred.”

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. on Tuesday announced it will close 30 of its 514 stores, and cut 120 jobs in its corporate and field support staffs as it deals with a continued weak economy. The Jacksonville-based supermarket chain wouldn't say which stores are closing until company officials can inform the employees involved, which should happen by the end of Wednesday. The stores being closed "can't operate efficiently or profitably" in this economy, CEO Peter Lynch said. "We just don't see a lot of good things down the road," he said. "These steps are being taken to position the company for another...

Bookmark and Share Retail Stores Closing Doors Our Latest Roundup for 2010 Announcements continue to roll in from retailers that have decided to close stores, slow expansion plans or cease operations altogether. From Christopher & Banks to the ESPN Zone, we update our ongoing roundup with the latest news from 2010. Read on to see which retailers are closing (at least some) of their doors. Are any of these your favorites? ESPN ZONE Announced: June 16, 2010 Walt Disney Co. closed its ESPN Zone restaurants in New York; Baltimore; Washington, DC; Las Vegas; and Chicago. With about 150 employees per...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- It could soon cost California shoppers at the checkout aisle if they forget to bring their own bags to the grocery store. Legislation passed Wednesday by the California Assembly would prohibit grocery stores, pharmacies, liquor stores and convenience stores from giving out plastic bags.

The anti-Israel boycott by the Palestinian Authority took on wider dimensions Friday night when Arabs burned two Arab stores for allegedly doing business with Jews. The stores are located on “Zion Way," the route connecting Kiryat Arba with the area of the Patriarchs Cave in Hevron. The incident is another sign that the PA boycott has fostered increasingly belligerent anti-Israel sentiment. The boycott began several months ago with the confiscation in Samaria of thousands of dollars of cosmetics produced at a kibbutz near the Dead Sea in the Jordan Valley.

Snippets: Calling soda the new tobacco, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will introduce legislation this fall that would charge a fee to retailers that sell sugary beverages. Newsom would need voter approval to tax individual cans of soda and sugary juice, but only needs approval from the Board of Supervisors to levy a fee on retailers. His legislation would charge grocery stores like Safeway and big-box stores, but would not affect restaurants that serve sodas. Jim Lazarus, vice president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, said the group opposes the soda tax. "Does this mean there's a fee on...

Retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc. said Friday it lost $29.4 million in its fourth quarter and could close 80 stores this year. While better than expected, that net income amounted to a loss of 33 cents per share and showed a dramatic reversal for the three months ending Feb. 28. During the same period last year, the company earned $14 million, or 16 cents per share.

Liberty Counsel is already waving a green flag for Christmas and a red flag for its opponents through this year's "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign." Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, who is also dean of the Liberty University Law School, has launched the sixth annual campaign to determine what stores want to take "Christ" out of Christmas. "We'll be the friend of those entities that honor Christmas and do constitutionally what they're supposed to do; and the foe of those who intentionally try to censor Christmas, whether it's in the public square or whether it's in the retail," he explains. Liberty Counsel's website...

How leading retailers’ messages rate Last updated: 11/19/08 We welcome your use of these ratings in your shopping decisions. As an additional way to help you communicate with the retailers we evaluated, we are providing the convenience of a petition which you can sign by visiting focuspetitions.com. Retailers will be presented with petitions — thanking those that embrace "Christmas," and alerting those that have purged or marginalized "Christmas" that you object to the secularization of Christmas. We hope you will "stand for Christmas" with us and encourage the continued acknowledgement of this historic Christian observance in our culture.

Adhamiyah residents look at the clothing being sold at the Adhamiyah Market Council Mall at the once-violent Omar Abdul Aziz street in the northern Baghdad District of Adhamiyah, Aug. 7, 2008. Photo by Sgt. Zachary Mott, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. ADHAMIYAH — Omar Abdul Aziz street was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in the months that followed the initial surge of Coalition forces into Iraq’s capital in the summer of 2007. But now, one year later, residents of the Adhamiyah District welcomed a new shop to the area – one that will...

Merchants struggling with the slowdown in spending are stepping up promotions to court consumers who are expecting a cash infusion from federal rebate checks. Retailers are already planning major sales and big advertising campaigns in the fierce fight for dollars - even though the government won't start mailing out the checks until May. For merchants worried about a bleak year, this is like Christmas in spring. Store owners have good reason to expect a shopping spree. People plan to spend 40.6 percent, or about $42.9 billion, of the $105.7 billion the government is distributing in tax rebates, according to a...

First Lt. Otis Ingram, a Colorado Springs, Colo., native, watches as a customer picks up his purchase of eggs at a shop in Husseiniya Feb. 26. Ingram talked to the store owner about the micro-grant program designed to help business owners improve their shops. Photo by Pfc. April Campbell, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. HUSSEINIYA — As the door opened, the shop owner momentarily halted his conversation with the unexpected visitor to tend to the needs of a customer who walked into his dimly lit store, Feb. 26. After the customer left the store with his...

Jack in the Box is operating more than 50 of these co-branded sites in California, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Idaho, Washington and Illinois, and is contracting with petroleum marketers, including Chevron, Shell, Arco, Exxon, Texaco and Citgo to supply fuel for the locations.

18 retailers are having their Online Black Friday Sales today! Walmart's sale starts at 5:00am EST, while Staples starts at 6:00am EST and Amazon's starts at 3:00am EST, all other sales are either going on right now or will start very shortly

FBI Has 'Pretty Good Leads' in Threats Published: 8/31/07, 4:47 PM EDT By JOE MILICIACLEVELAND (AP) - The FBI is looking overseas for suspects who have phoned bomb threats to more than 24 grocery stores, banks and discount stores in 15 states, including at least six new cases Friday in Ohio. The callers have threatened to set off a bomb unless store employees wire money to an account abroad. At a Dillons grocery store in Hutchinson, Kan., the caller ordered customers and workers to take off their clothes and threatened to force them to cut off a manager's fingers. Store...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (July 3, 2006) -- People go to convenience stores to buy pampers and baby formula or stock up on chips and dip for the next day's big game. But in Iraq, military stores known as post exchanges, play a far more important role. At this sprawling logistics base centered between the restive cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, service members now have a brand new post exchange - PX for short - where they can stock up on goods ranging from basic hygiene items to 'high-tech' equipment like laptop computers and DVD players. Built in a former mess...

(06.09.06) — Fires were intentionally set inside two Wal-Mart stores late Thursday, Glendale fire investigators said Friday. Both stores were evacuated after the flames broke out, and six people were treated for smoke inhalation, with two taken to local hospitals. Fire officials said damages were estimated at $5 million, mostly from smoke and water damage. One of the stores was to remain closed until Monday. The first fire started about 10 p.m. in the rear of a Wal-Mart in Glendale and forced about 120 people to evacuate, Deputy Fire Chief Elio Pompa said. A second fire broke out about an...

Only in America...can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance! Only in America...are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink! Only in America...do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions! Only in America...do people order double cheese burgers, a large fry, and a diet coke! Only in America...do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters! Only in America...do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and leave useless pieces of junk in the garage!...