Word: stores
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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During these dog days of summer, the nation's department stores are still cold. According to the retail-sales statistics released by the Commerce Department on July 14, June department store sales dipped 1.3% compared to sales in May of this year, and were down 9.4% compared with June of 2008. So to prop up sales before the back-to-school season, one major player is asking Santa, of all people, for some help...
...With temperatures simmering and families spending summer days at the shore, most customers aren't exactly in the Christmas spirit. So what convinced Sears, which has seen nothing but annual same-store sales declines at both its namesake and Kmart stores over the past four years, that skeptical shoppers want to open up their wallets for Christmas gifts now? "After the last holiday season, customers told us that they wish they had seen some of our merchandise earlier," says Natalie Norris-Howser, a Sears spokeswoman. "People are buying earlier today. Also, customers have grown accustomed to the Christmas-in-July...
Local currency can generate customer loyalty, but not every business feels as though it can offer a discount like the one built into BerkShares. "They just aren't viable for us," says Beth Parsons, whose family owns a grocery store in Lenox, Mass. But as a consumer, she likes the idea. Parsons recently drove to a nearby town to buy some shoes instead of getting them online. Afterward, she says, she passed a BerkShares sign "at the bank and thought, 'Oh, I should've bought BerkShare bucks to save money on these...
...Department of Housing and Urban Development doesn't really know what's in store for America's already overburdened homeless shelters. In its assessment to lawmakers, the agency known as HUD included this caveat: Our info is pretty outdated. "The data collection period ended on Sept. 30, 2008, just as the [economic] crisis was accelerating," the authors noted. "Also, there is an expected time delay between the moment someone loses her job or home and the moment she enters the shelter system." While the agency plans to begin issuing quarterly "pulse reports" to keep pace with the issue, counting people...
...across the courtroom and stabbed her 18 times. The attack has set off a wave of outrage in Egypt over what is perceived to be rising European racism and anti-Islamic sentiment. "What's the problem with wearing the headscarf?" asks Ahmed Kiskh, a Cairo convenience-store owner. "This is racism against Islam and ignorance about Islam." (See TIME's photos of Islam's soft revolution...