Justine Griffin/Sarasota Herald-Tribune—Following a relatively flat year for the retail industry and tepid back-to-school sales last August, Gov. Rick Scott’s proposal for an extended sales tax holiday in 2014 came as good news for retailers in Florida. The governor announced plans for a 10-day sales tax holiday as a part of his “It’s Your Money […]
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Bargain Hunting in U.S. Spreads Christmas Coal to UPS
Jeff Green and Lindsey Rupp/Bloomberg BusinessWeek—The list of U.S. companies that didn’t get what they wanted for Christmas is growing. United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS:US) became the latest when it said yesterday that a crush of last-minute orders resulted in higher costs and lower-than-expected earnings. Earlier this week, Best Buy Co. said holiday sales fell, […]
Retail and restaurants 2014: Conditions continue slow thaw
Tim Gallen/Phoenix Business Journal—After an up-and-down year, industry experts say retail will continue to recover in the Valley and statewide — but retailers themselves remain wary. Retail began to thaw in 2013, with an outlet mall opening and existing shopping centers adding new stores. Pent-up demand from consumers broke early in the year, said retail […]
Ho-hum holiday shopping sees late surge in Detroit area
Mike Martinez/The Detroit News—Strong Super Saturday and Sunday sales likely won’t move the needle on a ho-hum holiday shopping season. Fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, coupled with bad winter weather and a lack of must-have gifts have resulted in flat sales across Metro Detroit shopping malls and big box stores, analysts say. Sales […]
Shopping down on weekend before Christmas, reports indicate
Justine Griffin/Sarasota Herald-Tribune—While retail stores were busy with the many bargain hunters looking for a last minute deal before the holiday this past weekend, Sarasota shoppers Beth McCullagh and Melissa Tomasso were relaxing at home, their shopping already done for the season. McCullagh, a dedicated Black Friday shopper who lives with her family in Lakewood […]
At Christmas, region’s retailers just warming up
Justine Griffin/Sarasota Herald-Tribune—The shopping days that precede the holidays are taking on their own personality. We’ve got Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Small Business Saturday. There’s Free Shipping Day, which fell on Wednesday, a week before Christmas, this year. And now we’ve got Gray Thursday, a title for those murky hours on Thanksgiving evening into […]
