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

When Kobe Bryant was accused of sexual assault almost five years ago, the pitchman in Bryant fell off the face of the earth. Coke, which was using him for Sprite, shelved his ads and replaced him with Lebron James when his contract expired. McDonald's didn't renew him, neither did Nutella and Spalding.    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

I don’t need to be a savant to figure out that it’s not going to be a record breaking year for NFL rookie jersey sales. With so many lineman and defensive players being picked in the NFL draft (the first round yielded two QBs, five RBs and no wideouts), I'm sure the folks at Reebok aren’t expecting jerseys to fly off the shelves.    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

Tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the greatest rant in coaching history: Chicago Cubs manager Lee Elia’s unbelievable tirade. If you haven’t heard it in a couple years, it’s a real treat. Thanks to Neil Best’s Watchdog blog for the bleeped Chicago Tribune version.    Read More

When I heard on Friday that Electronic Arts was going to name the retired Brett Favre as its cover athlete for Madden NFL 09, I reserved judgment until I heard from you. I put up a poll and 65 percent of you thought it was either ingenious or a good idea, while 25 percent of you thought that it wouldn't affect sales.    Read More

As I've mentioned, I'm a big college football fan. It's my sport. And although I'm really not a card collector anymore, I still love opening packs of cards. It's why you'll see me reviewing the latest and greatest every once in a while.    Read More