- Mark Levin Signs Multi-year Deal with ABC, Expands Show to 3 Hours
- Consumerist.com Adopted by Old-School Consumers Union, Stops Selling Ads
- For Auto Industry, 2009 Holds Even Tighter Ad Budgets
- User-Generated Magazine Publisher 8020 Media Shuts Doors
- Out-of-Home, Fueled by Digital, to Weather Recession Well
- Clear Channel Swaps Cincy Stations for Five in Green Bay
- Consumers Swarm to Discounters for Grocery Items, Don’t Switch Back
- Wikimedia Raises $6.2M to Keep Wikipedia Afloat
- Conde Nast’s Jan. Ad Pages Slip More than Most
- Aegis Faces Possible Sale or Spin-off of Non-core Businesses
- Top US Cities for Charitable Givers, by Category
- Online Fitness, Video Game Spending Outperforms Brick-And-Mortar
- RIM Must Fix Glitches, Boost Satisfaction To Hold Off iPhone
- LCD TV Revenue to Fall YoY for First Time Ever
- Top 10 Broadcast Media Websites - November 2008
- Top 10 Entertainment Online Advertisers by Image-Based Impressions - November 2008
- Top 10 Sports Websites - November 2008
- Eight in 10 Online Holiday Shoppers Read Web Reviews
- Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index: Merry Outlook for Some, but Not Others
- Firefox Share Tops 20% in November
Europe
‘Wal-Mart’s Worst Nightmare’
British megaretailer Tesco is challenging Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, on its home turf, the US—though Wal-Mart is fighting back using Tesco’s own tactics, writes BusinessWeek.
Wal-Mart countered Tesco’s Nov. 2007 launch of Fresh & Easy—a chain of 10,000 sq. ft. convenience stores in California, Nevada, and Arizona—with its own similar-format Marketside, in Arizona.
Still, “Tesco is...
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Wal-Mart’s Entry into Russia another Step Closer
The latest move by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. indicating its imminent entry into Russia was announce by the Russian retail association, which said the World’s largest retailer had joined the industry group, Reuters reports.
Other members are French giants Carrefour and Auchan, Germany’s Metro AG, and Russia’s largest food retailers X5 Retail Group and Magnit.
Wal-Mart is reportedly in acquisition...
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Downturn in Sales for Sports Apparel and Footwear
Economic challenges are taking a toll on sales of athletic footwear and apparel, according to the NPD Group.
In the European Big Five market (UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), during the quarter ended September 2008 value sales declined 8% on apparel and 5% on footwear, the firm reported.
Downturns were softer in the US, where athletic footwear was down 1.5% and the active-apparel market...
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Coca-Cola Enterprises Boosts Full-Year Outlook
Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), Coca-Cola‘s largest bottler, expects its 2008 earnings to be up to slightly above October’s reduced expectations, and its 2009 results to be affected by continuing volume declines.
It now expects earnings of $1.28-$1.31 a share in 2008, compared with October’s $1.25-1.29. It cites better-than-anticipated North American volume and easing commodities costs.
It had...
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IMRG/Capgemini: UK Shoppers Flock Online before Christmas
UK online spending in November surged 26% from October—and 16% from Nov. of last year, according to figures released from the Interactive Media In Retail Group (IMRG) Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index today (Tues.).
The 26% surge in November sales was the highest of the year.
Shoppers may be attempting to beat the recession in the run up to Christmas by heading online, with online retailers...
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‘Capitalist Department Stores’ in France Target of ‘Afghan Revolutionary Front’
The renowned Printemps department store in the French capital was evacuated today after bomb threats were received, CNN reports. Five sticks of dynamite were apparently discovered inside the store, which is usually packed with shoppers this time of year.
A letter sent to Agence France Presse, ostensibly by a group calling itself “Front Revolutionaires Afghan” (Afghan Revolutionary Front), warned...
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No Buyer, So Woolworths Begins Closing Down
Woolworths, the British general store that has been around for more than a century, is the latest victim of the consumer-spending slump that has pushed UK retailers like Ilva Furniture and MK One out of business, writes Bloomberg.
The 815-store chain had a four-year run of unprofitability due to competition from supermarkets and online retailers and was seeking a buyer to save the collapse of...
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UK Retail Sales Down 0.4% in Nov.
For the second straight month, total UK retail sales fell on a year-on-year basis, dropping 0.4% in November—after a 0.1% drop in October, according to the British Retail Consortium (via MarketWatch).
By comparison, November same-store sales in the US dropped 2.7%.
On a like-for-like basis, which excludes changes in the amount of retailers’ floor space, UK sales fell 2.6% in November and 2.2%...
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McDonald’s Global Comps Up Nearly 8%
McDonald’s Corp. global comparable sales increased 7.7% in November, the company said, and global systemwide sales—those at restaurants operated by the company, franchisees and affiliates—were up 1.9% in November, or 9.6% in constant currencies.
In the US, comparable sales were up 4.5% in November, due to McDonald’s growing breakfast business, the popularity of the chicken line-up, and the draw...
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No. 4 UK Supermarket Chain Expands
The Morrison supermarket chain—the smallest of the four main UK grocery companies—is putting 403 million pounds sterling ($587 million) toward store and warehouse expansion, Bloomberg reports.
The company’s first purchase of 38 stores from Co-operative Group will add 500,000 square feet of store space, or nearly 5% of Morrison’s total, at a cost of 223.1 million pounds, or $325 million. The...
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