Home Depot

Minneapolis -- Target announced it will open a CityTarget store in the Westwood Market Place, Westwood, Calif., in July 2012. The 98,000- sq.-ft. store will occupy a space that formerly housed Home Depot Expo. The Westwood location is the second CityTarget store confirmed in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Target previously announced that it would open a small-format, urban store at Figueroa and 7th in downtown Los Angeles in October 2012. In addition to the two Los Angeles area CityTarget stores, Target will open small-format stores in Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco in 2012.

The days of tax-free internet shopping may soon be coming to an abrupt end. Two Republican senators are preparing to introduce new legislation that would allow states to force Amazon.com and other out-of-state online retailers to collect sales taxes.

Chicago -- The third annual Mobile Audit, released Thursday by e-commerce and digital marketing company Acquity Group, found that mobile adoption is on the rise. In fact, the percentage of retailers with a mobile site reached 37% in 2011, up from 12% in 2010 and only 4% in 2009 – a 210% increase over the past year alone. The survey also found that one in four retailers have at least one mobile app, with nearly a quarter developing for the iPhone, followed by Android (10%). The number of retailers offering mobile apps grew 278% over the past year, rising

When the first flakes of a snowstorm start falling in Philadelphia, it doesn't take nearby Home Depot stores long to position shovels and rock salt up near their front doors. At the same time, if a heat wave is blasting Phoenix, shoppers walking into their local Wal-Mart will be tempted to buy air conditioners, kiddie pools and slushy machines.

WaterSense labeled products have helped consumers save 125 billion gallons of water and $2 billion in water and energy bills.

With the holidays fast approaching, many retailers are looking to beef up their gift card offerings. Since Home Depot’s gift card program is one of the largest in the U.S., Forbes requested the advice of their Director of Gift Cards Spencer Allen.

Atlanta -- The Home Depot announced it has named Teresa Wynn Roseborough executive VP general counsel and corporate secretary, effective in November. Roseborough, who will be responsible for leading The Home Depot's legal department, as well as its government relations and corporate security services functions, joins the chain from MetLife, where she most recently served as deputy general counsel.

In an economy in which consumers will do almost anything to save a buck and retailers will do almost anything to make a buck, it's common for stores to roll out holiday goods this month.

Lowe's plans to outfit employees with 42,000 iPhone 4s next month, with custom apps that will make use of the device as a point-of-sale system as part of a technology-heavy retail overhaul. The retailer will introduce a new MyLowes online tool and implement the iPhones in an effort to catch rival Home Depot, which invested more than $60 million on handheld Motorola POS system last year.

For the last 25 years, Dennis May has been involved in the retail industry — and he's loved every second of it. From his modest beginning selling audio equipment to help support himself while in college (that was the cool job at the time, May recalls) to his tenure today as president and CEO of one of the fastest-growing cross-channel retail brands out there, the one constant has been retail. But that's just part of the reason we've chosen May as our 2011 cross-channel retailer of the year.