Retail | featured news

Shoppers spent slightly more last month than they had the year before, but sales were far short of 2008 levels, heralding what could be a disappointing holiday shopping season.

This morning Bloomberg reported that Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jefferies, who has led the retailer for nearly two decades, has announced that he intends to sell as much as 1.79 million of his shares. At current market value, a sale of that magnitude would net him nearly $63 million pretax.

Barnes & Noble (BKS) posted a loss for its first fiscal quarter today, of $62. 5 million, or $1.

Target meets analyst expectations with its fiscal second quarter earnings.

Half-priced jeans and promotional freebies are already popping up at the mall with the start of school still weeks away.

Barnes & Noble has put itself up for sale, struggling amid a changing landscape for book sales. Chairman Len Riggio is considering a bid.

Services like Groupon and TheFind.com are using social media and other online tools to lure ever more customers.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is putting electronic identification tags on men's clothing like jeans starting Aug. 1 as the world's largest retailer tries to gain more control of its inventory.

Retail sales fell in June for the second straight month, more evidence that the U.S. economic recovery will slow in the second half of the year.

Abercrombie & Fitch was the biggest surprise of the month wiith a 9% jump in same-store sales, while Nordstrom posted double-digit gains.