Marshal Cohen

Melissa Campanelli is Editor-in-Chief of Total Retail. She is an industry veteran, having covered all aspects of retail, tech, digital, e-commerce, and marketing over the past 20 years. Melissa is also the co-founder of the Women in Retail Leadership Circle.

Retailers Thursday began trying to salvage what has been a lackluster 2013 holiday shopping season, offering deep discounts on everything from clothing to toys, televisions and Christmas decorations. Shoppers seemed to be responding; many parking lots at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove, for example, were nearly full by noon Thursday. Some stores on Long Island opened as early as 5 a.m. "The post-holiday business has become an important part of the equation," said chief retail analyst Marshal Cohen of the

Basketball shoe marketers such as Adidas, Nike and Foot Locker could lose up to $500 million in sales if the 2011-2012 NBA season is wiped out, says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at the worldwide market research company NPD Group. That's roughly 25 percent of the $2 billion basketball sneaker market, Cohen said.

In a little over two days Borders will be liquidating its remaining stores and it's still a mystery about what's going to happen to its Borders.com website, its rewards program, its extended warranties for e-readers, etc. The only thing certain for consumers now is that the bookseller will continue to honor its gift cards throughout the liquidation process. But it won't be selling any new cards, Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis said on Tuesday. The company is still reviewing the plan for its Borders Rewards loyalty programs, Davis said. Customers who signed up for Borders Rewards received discounts and free

Sales of clothing at factory outlets and warehouse clubs logged double-digit gains — rising even faster than online sales which have been growing at a breakneck pace — according to the latest report from market researcher NPD Group.

Consumers spent more on retail goods in the first quarter than they did during the same time last year. That's despite higher gas prices, bad weather and a late Easter holiday.

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