Retail

You might think all those thank you e-mails and free e-cards and party Evites you receive would pile up and start weighing down the greeting card industry's bottom line, but profits are soaring. Jill Barshay looks at how they're keeping paper cards alive.

The creators of the hyper-violent Grand Theft Auto video game series may have gone too far this time. A sequel to a best-selling gorefest has been banned in the U.K. and won't be sold in the U.S. Stephen Beard reports.

AT&T just came out with a high-speed Internet bargain that they aren't exactly going out of their way to promote to consumers. It had to begin offering the cut-rate service to get the FCC to agree to its merger with BellSouth. Rachel Dornhelm reports.

It's the Beta vs. VHS battle of our time... two rival formats for high-definition DVDs are vying for market share. A move by the nation's biggest DVD rental retailer could tip the balance. Dan Grech reports.

Washington's drive to develop energy alternatives is chewing up commodities like corn that we'd otherwise be feeding ourselves. And that's raising grocery prices. John Dimsdale reports.

Once again the American consumer is riding to the economic rescue. The government says retail sales were up 1.4% in May. But retail consultant Howard Davidowitz figures there's less to the numbers than meets the eye.

Economists are guessing milk prices will be up 80% this summer. Jill Barshay reports on why the dairy product is suddenly getting so expensive.

Sprint has launched a new service that will let cell-phone users shop with the help of GPS technology. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.

Sprint launches a new service today that uses global positioning technology to help shoppers find products in stores. And this is just the beginning, Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.

Wal-Mart plans to unveil a pre-paid Visa card aimed at the 80 million U.S. residents who don't have bank accounts. Steve Tripoli reports that the nation's largest retailer may have something to teach competitors about servicing the poor.