Walmart.com stores have opened in two California malls. They're tiny, but are stocking some hot items for the holiday season. It's a smart move for Walmart, but it begs the question: What were the mall landlords thinking?
After a holiday season that marked a return to some form of normalcy, merchants are bracing for a year of mild sales growth and more stable operations. Whether that momentum holds is an open question, given the state of the housing and job markets.
Amazon.com, Kohl's and Nordstrom rank among the top 10 companies for customer service, according to a shopper survey released by the National Retail Federation on Tuesday. Online electronics retailer Newegg made the list this year, while Coldwater Creek and HSN fell off.
U.S. weekend mall traffic so far this month is higher than it was a year ago, suggesting that consumers may be improving their finances enough to boost sales for Black Friday and the 2010 holiday season.
Some merchants adjusted quickly to the "new normal" of penny-pinching shoppers, but others are still struggling with shrinking consumer budgets or headwinds they were fighting before the bottom fell out. Here's a look at the two groups that are going in two different directions.
Knowing customers' likes and dislikes is about as basic as it gets in retailing. But for years, national department stores got it wrong. More concerned with controlling costs, big retailers focused on sameness. Not anymore.
Amid all the whining about residential and commercial real estate markets, exchange-traded funds comprising real estate investment trusts have quietly been kicking butt. They're up 22% year-to-date through Sept. 21, compared to 3.71% for the the S&P 500 stock index.
Investors may get some relief from strong gasoline and auto sales, which helped lift retail overall and should ease some fears of a double-dip recession. Excluding gas and autos, most segments showed good year-over-year gains and small but as-expected month-over-month rises.
