Kaitlin Pinsker/Chicago Tribune—As you’re double-checking your holiday shopping list, tack on a reminder to read each store’s return policy before making your purchase. Some retailers are feeling a little less generous when it comes to returns. Such stingier policies are intended to combat return fraud. Fraudulent returns cost retailers $8.9 billion in 2012, according to […]
holiday shopping
New mall to bring high-end luxury stores
Justine Griffin/Sarasota Herald-Tribune—When the Mall at University Town Center debuts in October 2014, it will define itself as the one and only high-end luxury mall in the region, based on tenants such as Gucci, Tiffany’s & Co., Armani and several dozen others that have tentatively committed to the property. A recent site plan — a […]
Retail Rap: Shades of Gray in Black Friday
The holiday shopping season is typically the biggest of the year, and retailers are looking to get shoppers thinking about holiday shopping sooner this year than in years past. Wal-Mart and Toys R Us have already begun airing holiday shopping advertisements, and stores continue to push Black Friday earlier into Thanksgiving Thursday. My question is […]
Stores Get Stingy About Returns
Kaitlin Pitsker/Kiplinger’s Personal Finance—As you’re double-checking your holiday shopping list, tack on a reminder to read each store’s return policy before making your purchase. Some retailers are feeling a little less generous when it comes to returns. That even includes REI, an outdoor gear and sporting goods retailer long known for its no-time-limit and no-questions-asked […]
Despite complaints, Black Friday continues to creep into Thanksgiving
Kavita Kumar/St. Louis Post-Dispatch—And … they’re off. The Cardinals weren’t the only ones in the midst of a dogfight. Faced with what is shaping up to be a lackluster holiday shopping season, retailers are pulling out all the stops in an effort to get more customers through their doors. So it probably shouldn’t have been […]
Washington deal may mean more deals for holiday shoppers
A congressional deal to end the shutdown may be an early Christmas gift for shoppers—and coal for retailers.
By staving off a Treasury default until after the New Year, the government also extended uncertainty, according to analysts.
