L.L. Cool J put it best: “Don’t call it a comeback!” While the 80s/90s rapper is far from a retail analyst (he does have his only clothing line though), the idea best describes what I took away from same store sales results for the month of April.    Read More

A bright but brief relief to retailers will come tomorrow in same store sales figures. The International Council of Shopping Centers is predicting the strongest performance since February. But don’t get too excited--it's all relative.   Read More

It is fitting that Sears' annual shareholders' meeting is being held around the same time as the Berkshire Hathaway gathering. Eddie Lampert, Chairman of Sears, not only says that Warren Buffett inspired his investing sensibilities. Lampert is also compared to the "Oracle of Omaha."    Read More

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that Home Depot is closing stores. The home improvement retailer has been suffering from the same illness as the housing market. In fact, Wall Street had a positive view on the news that HD spaceris closing 15 stores and canceling plans to open 50 new locations.    Read More

Wal-Mart is doing what none of its competitors can do to gain its share of the $106 billion in economic stimulus check rebates that Americans will be receiving over the next few weeks. The world's biggest retailer Wal-Mart will:    Read More

What would you do with $600? If you're an American making $75,000 or less, you'll be receiving a rebate check in that amount by the end of May. Spend that payout on groceries at Kroger or Supervalu and those stores plan to give you some extra cash on top of that government money...   Read More

It costs consumers more to buy ‘green’ or eco-friendly products. But retailers are hoping that consumers’ conscience will override price-consciousness when it comes to buying these green lines.    Read More

Cash your stimulus check at Sears and the company will give you a bonus gift card worth 10 percent of that check. What's the catch? You have to cash your entire check and trade it in for a giftcard that has to be redeemed at a Sears, Kmart or a Land's End sometime between May 14 and July 19th.    Read More

Most Retail Detail readers are skeptical about Blockbuster's attempted takeover of Circuit City. Carl Icahn is financing this deal but Circuit City management seems to be resisting it. What's interesting is that Circuit City is now in play.    Read More

Whew.. what a morning. I've been reporting on Blockbuster's surprise $1 billion surprise offer for Circuit City. A lot of interesting questions to ponder here, including: Why would Carl Icahn choose to finance the $1 billion Blockbuster bid? Why wouldn't Blockbuster just join in a partnership with Circuit City in order to gain access to the customer list?   Read More