Retail Stores

Though stubbornly high unemployment and continued uncertainty over the prospects for job growth will continue to dampen the outlook for industry retail sales growth in 2012, the retail industry will still grow at a rate faster than many other industries.

eBags' holiday sales were up 33 percent year-over-year through Dec. 6, more than doubling comScore's 15 percent holiday estimate. To get some insight on what eBags did right this holiday season, I contacted Peter Cobb the retailer's co-founder.

It's been said ad nauseam — the customer is always right. Macy's takes that famous saying one step further by trying to provide the best customer experience possible with its My Macy's campaign.

A fringe Christian pressure group has attributed Tesco's recent poor sales to divine intervention, claiming that "God has answered our prayers for confusion in the Tesco boardroom." Christian Voice, a prayer and campaigning organization that claims to have nearly 2,000 members across the U.K., protested outside Tesco shops towards the end of last year over the company's decision to sponsor a family area at the Gay Pride celebrations in London.

After a season full of peaks and valleys, retailers' 2011 holiday sales beat expectations, rising 4.1 percent to $471.5 billion — slightly surpassing NRF's holiday sales forecast of 3.8 percent growth. 

Williams-Sonoma, a $3 billion juggernaut with 268 stores nationwide, could face an uphill battle over its plans to return to Sonoma, Calif. and open a store at the original site on Broadway.

Same-store sales are looking a little flat and you need to find ways to deliver better results. There's still a scent of the financial meltdown lingering, but you survived that crisis and it's time to start getting the sales needle moving in a positive direction.

Retail sales barely rose in December, but the gain was enough to push sales to a record for 2011. It was the largest annual increase in more than a decade. Sales inched up 0.1 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted $400.6 billion.

Kohl's is the recipient of the People's Pick award in the Harris Poll Customer Relationship Series. The award recognizes the strength of consumers' bonds with midtier department stores and reflects their connections and future intentions.

Storied French luxury brand Hermes isn't known for being cheap, and soon it's about to become even more expensive. The company stated back in November that it was planning to raise prices in several markets, including this one, due to "significant raw-material cost increases, particularly for silk, cashmere and crocodile skin."