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• Can the Super Bowl Save the Planet?

  

  One company found that energy usage in the US drops by more than 5% during the game and as much as 7.5% during the half-time show, even though it would take 10 coal-fired power plants to fire all the televisions being watched.

• Elizabeth Arden's shares fall on 2Q earnings miss

  NEW YORK-- Elizabeth Arden's shares fell Thursday after the cosmetics maker reported fiscal second-quarter results that showed weak holiday sales at department stores and one its major discounters and offered a disappointing outlook.

• Cost cuts, higher prices help Colgate-Palmolive 4Q

  NEW YORK-- Colgate-Palmolive Co. said Thursday its fourth-quarter net income rose 1 percent on higher prices and cost cuts. The maker of Colgate toothpaste and Palmolive dish soap said that for the three months ended Dec. 31, net income came to $598 million, or $1.26 per share, from $590 million, or $1.21 per share the year before.

• REUTERS MAGAZINE-The Swiss turn on the super-rich

  Jan 21- In February 2008, Thomas Minder, a Swiss businessman whose family-owned company is best known for its old-fashioned herbal toothpaste, attacked his banker, UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel, as if he were a form of stubborn plaque. At a shareholders' meeting in Basel, he stormed the podium as Ospel addressed the crowd.

• Spirits Makers Expect a Bubbly Holiday Season

  

  Diageo and Pernod-Ricard are predicting fizzy sales this December as Americans make merry at holiday parties.

• Benckiser, aiming for coffee empire, buys Caribou, Peet's

  NEW YORK, Dec 19- A relatively unknown German holding company this week made its third move on a coffee company as it tries to assemble a juggernaut that can challenge chains like Starbucks Corp and Dunkin' Brands Group Inc.

• UPDATE 1-Britney Spears, Taylor Swift are top-earning women in music

  NEW YORK, Dec 12- Pop star Britney Spears edged past Taylor Swift to claim the title of top-earning woman in music after bringing in an estimated $58 million from her album, endorsements and a perfume in the past year, Forbes said on Wednesday.

• Pretty boys and dancing divas give S.Korean cosmetics Asian appeal

  SEOUL, Dec 10- Their skin is smooth, their hair is salon-fresh, and between them they've sold millions of records. South Korea's male K-pop icons have been enlisted by the country's cosmetics firms as they try to expand beyond its borders to take on global giants like L'Oreal and Unilever across the continent.

• Online Sales Jump on Cyber Monday, eBay Shines

  

  Online sales jumped on Cyber Monday, sending e-commerce retailers' shares higher and suggesting strong growth from earlier in the holiday shopping season is continuing for now.

• ‘Pet Parents’ to Spend Big This Holiday Season

  

  Despite the uncertain state of the economy there is a standout group of big spenders this holiday season: pet owners.

• Holiday Shopping For Your Pet? 

  

  Americans will spend nearly $53 billion on their cats and dogs this year. PetSmart CEO Robert Moran, offers insight. Pets are now being looked at as "members of the family," he says, discussing just how much is spent on pets during the holiday season.

• A Blockbuster Black Friday? Brace Yourself for Cyber Monday

  

  How well retailers fare on Cyber Monday will offer insight into Americans’ evolving shopping habits during the holiday shopping season.

• What's With All the Big TVs This Black Friday?

  

  This was supposed to be the "Year of the Tablet" but Black Friday dispatches from the mall keep pointing to strong sales of big-screen TVs. So what gives? Didn't shoppers get the memo?

• Consumers Seek Eternal Bargains: Tanger CEO

  

  Black Friday bargains aside, uncertain economic times have launched consumers on a never ending quest for “great value on great products”, the president and CEO of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers told CNBC Friday.

• Black Thursday? Thanks, but No Thanks: Macy’s CEO

  

  The CEO of department store goliath Macy's said Friday he has no immediate plans to open the company's doors earlier to conform with the recent trend of early Thanksgiving sales.

• Undercover Shopping: Testing Holiday Promises

  

  Every year it seems the holiday season gets more competitive for retailers. First it was free shipping, now it’s free layaway and price-matching in guaranteed, speedy in-store pickup. Promises, promises. But do the programs really work?

• New American Tradition: Going Kosher for Thanksgiving

  

  Kosher turkeys are slowly taking a larger share of the Thanksgiving market, with some companies seeing customers who don't keep kosher buying kosher poultry.

• Best Buy Deja Vu? Website Crashes as Shoppers Ramp Up

  

  If you are looking to do a little prep for Black Friday shopping by comparing TV prices online, Best Buy is not going to be much help today. The site has been showing a notice: "Our site is incredibly busy! Please be patient while we shovel you a path." And it's not even Black Friday!

• Why One Poll Says 45% Would Rather Skip Christmas

  

  A recent survey found that many tapped-out buyers would prefer that Santa Claus not even bother coming down their chimney.

• Special Delivery From Wal-Mart's Silicon Valley Lab

  

  The world's largest retailer is partnering with Goodies Co., a monthly food subscription service, to offer a taste-testing program.