Jeff Green

Amazon.com's app for iPhone this week added "Flow," an image recognition tool designed to allow consumers to add a product to their shopping cart by merely pointing their phone's camera at it. Flow, as its name suggests, aims to make it as seamless as possible to shop. MarketWatch carried out its own "showrooming" with the app. Scanning a three-bottle package of the hair growth serum Rogaine, Flow immediately found the item on Amazon for $43.85, 30 percent cheaper than the $62.99 price in a Duane Reade store.

Stores are anticipating a huge turnout (read: crowds) this year. According to a survey conducted by management consulting firm Accenture, 53 percent of consumers say they plan to shop on Black Friday, up from 44 percent last year. That would reverse three years of declining consumer interest in the day, based on the company's previous surveys.


New York City -- Sur La Table has been acquired by Investcorp, a global asset management firm. The Seattle-based retailer, which specializes in kitchen goods, operates 86 stores nationwide. Investcorp acquired Sur La Table from the Behnke family and investment firm Freeman Spogli & Co., who will both remain as investors in the kitchen goods retailer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. No management changes are expected. "We believe that Sur La Table is well positioned in its existing markets and has multiple opportunities for growth including new store expansion and e-commerce." said Kevin Nickelberry, a managing director

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