Retail News

“Our new line of credit is expected to provide sufficient liquidity to support our business strategy and the interests of our shareholders”

Nautilus, Inc. today announced that it has signed a commitment letter with Bank of America, N.A. to replace its current debt facility with an underwritten 5-year, $100 million asset-based loan with an accordion ... via Market Wire

“There is a growing sense among investors that portfolio managers do a better job than corporate managers”

Not so fast. Corporate America appears to have had second thoughts in 2007. Frank S. Blake, who replaced Robert L. Nardelli as chief executive of Home Depot , sold off the $12 billion division that Mr. via New York Times

Helen Robson Walton's death on April 19 left Arkansas without one of its most generous philanthropists. via KATV Little Rock

The following recall has been announced:

_ Weis Markets Inc. is recalling its Weis Baker's 18-count Fruit Miniatures and two-pound platters of Mini-Fruit Diamonds in four varieties because the products might contain undeclared walnuts. People who have an allergy to this ingredient run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reactions if they consume the product. The Sunbury, Pa., company has received one report of a customer becoming sick because of the ingredient, said spokesman Dennis Curtin. The bakery products were sold in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and West Virginia at Weis Markets, including its Mr. Z's, King's and Scot's Lo-Cost stores. For more information, consumers can call the company at 866-999-9347, ext. 3. Read more

“They can potentially recoup it in terms of increased sales, which is kind of what they're hoping for.”

Canadian shoppers who are usually tuckered out by holiday spending could get a mild rush of adrenalin Tuesday when the latest GST cut goes into effect, taking the federal sales tax down to five per cent. via 900 CHML AM

" Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has closed an online movie download service it launched less than a year ago. via Newton Daily News

“They looked at the price tag before they looked at the product.”

Internet sales by U.S. retailers during the holiday season rose at the slowest pace on record as consumers grappled with $3-a-gallon gasoline and the worst housing slump in 16 years. via The Dallas Morning News

“The fact that the employee in question touched the suspect is grounds for termination.”

A Ypsilanti man wants his job back at an Ann Arbor grocery store after he was fired because he tried to stop a shoplifter on Sunday. via Freerepublic.com

The annual number of takeover bids targeting listed firms in the country exceeded 100 for the first time in 2007, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. via Asia News Network

Elder Automotive Group CEO Irma Elder today announced the company's purchase of Jaguar of Novi , its third Jaguar dealership in Michigan. via Crain's Detroit Business

Stocks that were moving substantially or trading heavily Friday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE Genesco Inc., up $4.94 at $38 A judge ruled The Finish Line Inc. via WIBW-TV Topeka

“Gift card redemption is a huge traffic driver this week”

Macy's Inc., Best Buy Co. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. may get a boost in store traffic and revenue in the next few weeks from the redemption of gift cards, which are growing faster than total retail sales. via Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

A favorable court ruling late yesterday paid dividends on Wall Street for Genesco, the Nashville-based shoe retailer today. via The Tennessean

Edward Brennan shown in a 1992 photo in Chicago when he was Chairman of Sears. Brennan, who started as a sales associate at a Sears store in Wisconsin and rose to become chairman and CEO of Sears, Roebuck and ... via The South Mississippi Sun Herald

“While we're seeing some domestic reductions, we're continuing to see an increase in international flights”

A Delta Air Lines jet takes off. Delta Air Lines is dropping nonstop flights between Salt Lake City and cities in South Dakota and Arkansas, including the hometown of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. via Kutv.com

The battered shares of Semafo Inc. continued to rally Friday after the mining company announced the start-up at its Mana gold project in West Africa is still scheduled for mid-February Semafo shares traded ... via 102.9 CKDS-FM

“AT&T brought its expertise to the table, along with a flexible solution that could cater directly to our needs as they change with customer demand.”

AT&T Inc. announced that First Cash Financial Services a leading provider of specialty consumer financial services and related retail products, has selected AT&T to provide domestic and international network ... via Huliq.com

“Skinny B----') was reading this how-to guide that covers everything from paper airplanes to go-carts to skipping stones to skinning a rabbit.

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MISSES

The Hillary Clinton trio: Carl Bernstein's 'A Woman in Charge”

It was the 'confession' that nobody wanted to read in 2007 _ at least until they had the chance to read it.

O.J. Simpson's 'If I Did It,' vilified when first announced a year ago, dropped by HarperCollins, then issued this fall by tiny Beaufort Books, sold more than 100,000 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 70 percent of industry sales.

Simpson's book, supposedly so untouchable that Barnes & Noble Inc. initially declined to stock it in stores, had Nielsen numbers comparable to such high-profile releases as former CIA director George Tenet's 'At the Center of the Storm' and Alice Sebold's 'The Almost Moon,' her first novel since the best seller 'The Lovely Bones.' Read more

“While the decision to close stores is difficult, it is necessary that we do so selectively in locations with declining sales and where we have been unable to identify sufficient growth opportunities.”

Macy's Inc. , the owner of its namesake chain and Bloomingdale's, said Friday that it would close stores deemed to have inadequate sales and eliminate 899 jobs. via New York Times

Omaha police have identified another victim injured in the December 5th shooting at Westroads Mall. via Beatrice Daily Sun