Steve & Barry's, Sarah Jessica Parker launch branded tops May 8, 2008 Steve & Barry's has rolled out a line of "Sex and the City" branded T-shirts and tank tops designed by Sarah Jessica Parker.  -More-  Nike, Finish Line open co-branded store May 8, 2008 A store co-branded by Nike and Finish Line was scheduled to open Wednesday in Chandler, Ariz. Finish Line Ltd.  -More-  Giant completes some "Project Refresh" stores May 8, 2008 Giant Food on Friday will reopen six stores in Virginia and Maryland that have been revamped under the company's "Project Ref -More-  Commentary: Localization at Macy's will require balance May 8, 2008 Macy's should be praised for its recently announced plans for a localization initiative called "My Macy's," according to one  -More-  Select buys to give shoppers free Sam's Club membership May 8, 2008  -More- Counting on rebate checks to save your 2008 comps? Time for Plan B. Based on an NRF survey & basic math (learn more), the average retailer will derive a 12 month comp benefit of 1%. At best. Putting more pressure on marketing than ever. HRG's modeling work will arm you with an understanding of marketing & economic comp impacts and a plan of how to improve results. Report: Imports to U.S. drop in volume May 8, 2008 One sign of the slowing U.S. economy is a drop in the volume of imported retail goods into the country.  -More-  Manufacturers, retailers try to minimize costly returns May 8, 2008 Consumer electronics makers, such as Vizio and Seagate, as well as retailers such as Best Buy are stepping up efforts to help -More-  More companies open forums to negative feedback May 8, 2008 Some customer-focused companies are inviting consumers to post both negative and positive feedback on the companies' own Web  -More-  In-store marketing is the promotion that counts May 8, 2008 Three-quarters of consumers prefer shopping at one or two stores on a regular basis, and 85% shop with a written or mental li -More- Free White Paper: The Sentient Retail Supply Chain Learn how to deliver on 21st century consumer expectations and transform to a new supply chain operating model that is characterized by the key qualities of flexibility, intelligence, awareness and precognizence -- ">downloaddownload this complimentary white paper from Oracle. California town votes to ban big-box stores May 8, 2008 Dublin, Calif., voted to ban the development of big-box stores within its city limits.  -More- Stop Guessing. Start Knowing. You Can with SAS®!SAS® solutions for retail turn data about customers, merchandise, operations and enterprise performance into knowledge that empowers you to make more informed decisions, gain a competitive advantage, strengthen customer and vendor loyalty, and improve profitability. Retail container traffic growing but still below last year May 8, 2008 Traffic at the nation's major retail container ports will grow steadily this summer but will nonetheless remain at or below l -More-  NRF SmartStat May 8, 2008 Men will spend 62% more than women for Mother's Day this year. Source: NRF Mother's Day survey conducted by BIGresearch. -More-  Check out NRF's monthly e-newsletter -- NRF Update online May 8, 2008 Find out what's hot at NRF, read the most recent press releases and learn of upcoming conferences and events on NRF Update.  -More-  Baskin-Robbins softens its serve May 8, 2008 Baskin-Robbins plans to sell soft-serve ice cream for the first time in its 62-year history.  -More-  Papa John's hits $1 billion in online orders May 8, 2008 Papa John's announced Wednesday that its U.S. online sales hit the $1 billion mark after growing more than 50% annually.  -More-  May 8, 2008  -More- General Merchandise Manager Vanity Inc Ronald Reagan fortieth U.S. president May 8, 2008 Why should we subsidize intellectual curiosity? -More-