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Riding up the escalator at the Target store on New York's Queens Boulevard this spring, shoppers did a double-take as a lipstick-red Vespa came into view. That sexy Italian motor […]

Bah, humbug Gold and frankincense are so two millennia ago NOT everyone finds Christmas easy. Some people have so much money that they cannot think what to spend it on. […]

The auction will allow consumers to buy excess and overstock merchandise through either a traditional auction or an automatic markdown format. The FairMarket Network helped develop the auction site.

Macy's By Mail Ltd has used the experience and infrastructure of parent Federated Department Stores to smooth its start-up process. For instance, Macy's by Mail shares the 286,000 sq ft fulfillment center used by sister company Bloomingdale's By Mail Ltd in Cheshire, CT. Also, the catalogue has access to names from Federated Department Stores' database of 58 mil accounts for its mailing list. Ten million copies of the Macy's By Mail catalogue have been sent since its August 1998 launch, and 25 mil more will be mailed in 1999. Pres Ronald Ramseyer predicts sales of $250 mil by 2003.

An increasing number of upscale department stores in the US have expressed interest in offering fine dining services to consumers, as restaurants continue to provide countless market opportunities for retailers. The increasing trend towards in-store restaurants has prompted Macy's Herald Square to set up a dining place in its New York flagship chain with a renaissance and European ambiance. Despite the potential benefits of integrating in-site restaurants in department stores, managers are confronted with a number of operational difficulties, including utility and plumbing connections.

The brightly coloured interior of Jersey-based Cafe des Artistes has been designed by Katushia Karahassan and her husband Ali who run the restaurant located in Voisins department store. The store's owners felt the restaurant needed be kept in line with modernization of the shopping area and the refurbishment has increased the cafe turnover by 50% since it opened in Feb 1998. The total refit cost 85,000 pounds sterling and took three weeks to complete.

Penney's to Open on Thanksgiving Night By VICKI M. YOUNG J.C. Penney Co. Inc. is the latest retailer to move up its Thanksgiving Day opening hours, revealing plans to open [...]

Macy's to Open Thanksgiving Night By DAVID MOIN NEW YORK Macy's will open about 750 of its 800 stores at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, breaking its tradition of keeping closed [...]

Exclusive department stores in cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, and Beverly Hills have started offering fine food through on-site restaurants. Examples include the Armani Cafe, the Walnut Room in Marshall Field's and the Zodiac restaurant in Neiman Marcus.

A shopping survey of department and housewares stores revealed a wide range of knowledge and helpfulness among the sales personnel at different retailers. Customer service was good at Bloomingdale's Inc., R.H. Macy and Company Inc. and the New York specialty store Broadway Panhandler. Shoppers had to wait for help at Lechters Inc., Stern's Inc. and Williams-Sonoma Inc. stores. Macy's had an electronic kiosk with information on Meyer's cookware., NEW YORK -- Confused customers shop price. This truism of consumerism drives manufacturers and retailers. The ability to convert a potential customer into a satisfied one is increasingly what separates [...]

A department-store company is now handling its own private label credit program after a 16-year relationship with a third-party processor. The decision to bring home its credit program came after the company acquired Maison Blanche which already had a sophisticated and well-managed private label credit centers. The company simply expanded the Maison Blanche facility to allow for the processing of credit for the whole company. The new credit center now has 400 associates and is located in a 80,000-sq. ft. facility, as compared to 75 people and 10,000-sq.ft. of the original Maison Blanche center. New hardware, new software, new telephone systems, new department heads and new processes were also assigned to improve the credit facility. The transition to the new credit program was made easier through the assistance of the company's management information system department. The result is improved coordination between credit and merchandising.

FASHION SCOOPS ON SCREEN: Thanks to Brioni, Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush will be one sharply dressed art expert and auctioneer in the latest Giuseppe Tornatore movie, 'La Migliore Offerta' [...]

Byline: Sean Sposito With all eyes on Wal-Mart Stores Inc. as a potential disruptive force in the banking world, some might overlook major recent innovations coming out of the No. [...]

NEGOTIATIONS OVER THE MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE ROUTE ARE heating up as the city considers whether to keep the event on Seventh Avenue for the third year straight or to [...]

Creating an opportunity for dialogue can be the most valuable benefit of a frequent-shopper program. It also seems to be the most under-exploited. 'Retailers must create a way for customers [...]

Byline: David Moin Bloomingdale's Hosts Benefit for CMI Some kids are shy, and then there are those who are pathologically self-conscious. 'At home, she was a chatterbox,' said Debbie Perelman, [...]

A study examines the nature of service encounters in department stores from the customerEs perspective. Findings indicate that customers are generally very dissatisfied with employee behavior and poor service encounters at department stores.

IN BRIEF MACY'S HOLIDAY HOURS: Macy's is keeping 12 stores open around the clock until 6 p.m. Thursday. It's the fourth consecutive year that Macy's has pulled all-nighters at select [...]

RETAILER IN A YEAR IN WHICH CONSUMERS STAYED AWAY FROM STORES IN DROVES, THESE RETAILERS UPPED THE EXCITEMENT LEVEL AND REIGNITED THE DESIRE TO SHOP. DEPARTMENT STORE BLOOMINGDALE'S Bloomingdale's blew [...]

YORK, Pa. -- Long-time Rutter's Farm Stores customer, Tammy Hess, won free gas for a year just for registering her Rutter's Rewards card online. But she didn't realize by registering [...]

Clive Christian Opens at Fortnum & Mason Clive Christian opened a counter in london's fortnum & Mason department store's accessories area Monday to showcase its collection of scarves and handbags. [...]

Target-To-Go Comes to New York for Holiday NEW YORK Manhattan still doesn't have a Target, but it will soon have a Target-To-Go. Target-To-Go, at Gansevoort and Washington Streets at the [...]

Target is using gift cards as an incentive to get people to shop in its stores. The campaign started on Black Friday as the retailer handed over $10 gift card [...]

Selection One of the UK's most popular department stores, John Lewis offers a great range of items such as electricals, furniture and toys. Navigation It's easy to browse. Users can […]

MINNEAPOLIS - Target Corp. said last week it plans to roll out its expanded grocery and perishables format, called p-fresh, to 350 more discount stores in 2010 and ultimately to [...]

PARIS - The French retailer Carrefour Group has issued 2.5 million contactless cards since kicking off nine months ago what has become one of Europe's most-watched payments projects. Frederic Marzurier, [...]

Bloomingdale's Shows Off Its Makeover Bloomingdale's unveiled its glittering new beauty floor Wednesday morning with chairman and chief executive officer Michael Gould declaring, 'After 41 years, I don't believe there's [...]

Retailers Use Facebook to Connect With Consumers Facebook quickly has become the top social site for retailers since the company revamped for business two years ago. Putting up a brand [...]

HermA[umlaut]s Buys Asprey Building LONDON HermA[umlaut]s on Thursday said it has purchased the 20,000-square-foot building on New Bond Street that serves as Asprey's global headquarters and flagship store. HermA[umlaut]s, which [...]

Selfridges Unveils 3rd Central LONDON The third floor at Selfridges' Oxford Street flagship just got a fresh jolt of energy thanks to a dedicated space for denim brands and young [...]

Macy's Passport Gala Makes Push for Funds SANTA MONICA, Calif. Organizers of Macy's 27th annual Passport gala lowered their charity fund-raising goal this year because of the troubled economy, but [...]

House of Fraser Puts Service First LONDON House of Fraser is banking on a prestige positioning and the prospect of some in-store pampering to make it a primping hot spot. [...]

FASHION SCOOPS DANCE NO MORE: One name conspicuously absent from the lineup of the fall season of 'Dancing With the Stars' is Vera Wang . For weeks, reports had been [...]

Nordstrom Launching Children's U.K. Brand Just in time for back-to-school, Nordstrom has snapped up the U.S. retail exclusive on Mini Boden, a children's collection based in the U.K. The line [...]

FASHION SCOOPS LATEST EDITION: Owning a Balenciaga Forties evening gown or fitted top will soon be attainable for fashion devotees who shop at Le Bon MarchA[c] in Paris. Another collection [...]

IN BRIEF KOHL'S SCHOLARSHIPS: Kohl's has named 10 young volunteers as national winners of the Kohl's Kids Who Care Scholarship Program. Almost 18,000 kids were nominated for the annual scholarship. [...]

Fortunoff Family Buys Back Brand Fortunoff could soon be back in business. The home furnishings and jewelry chain was liquidated last winter by owner NRDC Equity Partners. But last week, [...]