retailers

This fall, Target will launch its first spin-off store concept, based on its C9 by Champion athleticwear brand. Can the cheap chic icon muscle in on an activewear game dominated by trendy and pricey names like Lululemon, Athleta and Under Armour?

Many retailers are reporting solid sales gains for December, capping a decent holiday season, but shoppers bent on discounts exacted a high price.

Macy's is raising its earnings outlook for the fourth quarter and full year due to a strong holiday season and says it will double its quarterly dividend to 20 cents a share. The retailer is also increasing its share repurchase program by $1 billion. The announcements came as the department store operator reported Thursday that a key measure of its December sales rose faster than analysts had expected.

Their brands aren't well known in the U.S. yet, but experts suggest you keep an eye on these seven emerging retailers with hot store concepts that are ripe for expansion. They could soon be headed to a mall near you.

The holiday shopping season is wrapping up to be bigger than anyone expected. Now, retailers are holding their breath and hoping consumers will keep spending in the final days before Christmas.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association on Thursday reported a nationwide increase this year in shoplifting, calling the fight to stop store crime "an uphill battle." The group blamed an expanding black market for the rise in organized shoplifting crimes.

New York Fashion Week is over, but the work is just getting started at the nation's big chain retailers. DailyFinance asked fashion and trend directors at Macy's, J.C. Penney and Banana Republic what we'll be seeing this spring.

On Thursday night, New York City will transform into one big after-hours shopping party for Fashion's Night Out, a whirlwind of festive, quirky store events to kick off New York Fashion Week. But it's not all high-end specialty stores -- mass retailers are increasingly using FNO to assert their own fashion bona fides.

Athleta, a women's sportswear merchant that the Gap bought in 2008, opened its first two East Coast stores in New York this week. At a time when 200 Gap stores are closing, Athleta is sprinting toward its goal of 50 stores by 2013. But can it beat out its fast-growing competitors?

Lands' End has named Edgar Huber, former CEO of Juicy Couture, as its new chief executive. Will he be able to breathe new life into the 48-year-old brand?