Retail sales have been dark lately, but alternative teen clothing chain Hot Topic has seen a bump in its sales. Renita Jablonski reports how the apparel and entertainment store may be reflecting a national mood.
With retail sales having their biggest drop in record in October, the holiday shopping season is looking pretty bleak. How bad will it be? Scott Jagow gets the report from Marketplace's retail maven, Stacey Vanek-Smith.
Is it really so bad that consumer confidence continues to erode? Commentator Amity Shlaes says that if consumers aren't spending, then they're saving, investing or beefing up that college fund, and that can be a good thing.
Google's ad business was supposed to be recession-proof. But Google and companies like it rely on search-related ads and fewer people are clicking on them. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.
Retail sales for October have had the biggest drop since the Commerce Department started keeping track back in 1992. This even beats the decline after 9/11. Alisa Roth reports this is really bad news.
As economic worries tighten consumer budgets, a new shopping trend has emerged — shoppers are returning merchandise to stores in record numbers. Beth Teitell says this buy-then-bring-back behavior is called "circle shopping."
A dreary holiday season has been foreshadowed for months, but how bad is it really going to be? Stacey Vanek-Smith reports some figures have losses down $30 billion from last year, but not everyone will do so bad.
When a store goes into bankruptcy, what happens to the plastic gift cards people haven't redeemed? Circuit City, for example, has asked the bankruptcy court to allow it to honor the cards, but no decision yet. Renita Jablonski reports.
Knowing people have less cash in their wallets, some retailers are turning to old tricks to get shoppers spending money during the holiday season. Stacey Vanek-Smith has the story.
