Americans shake off economic pessimism – NBC/WSJ poll by John Harwood at CNBC. "The proportion of Americans who say they are satisfied with the economy has risen 10 percentage points in the last five months, to 45 percent." Read more   Retailers expect stronger growth in 2015 by Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz at Chicago Tribune via Star-Tribune. "Retail sales are expected to rise 4.5 percent this year, a full percentage point more than the 3.4 percent growth in 2014, according to Kantar Retail...Online sales, though still 10 percent of total retail sales, are expected to grow 15 percent this year." Read [...]

  How Target’s grand reveal of store locations contributed to its demise in Canada by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. "But Target’s first disastrous step — even if it had no other options — was giving competitors so much advance notice on just when the chain would open its doors, and where every location would be. “Normally, retailers do not know anywhere close to that soon what the exact locations will be, not on that scale,” said Alex Arifuzzaman, partner at retail real estate specialist InterStratics Consultants. “With Target, it was telegraphed to them.” Read more   More Exec Changes [...]

  Source: Dollar General waving the white flag in battle for Family Dollar by Jennifer Thomas at Charlotte Business Journal. "It seems that Dollar General is throwing in the towel when it comes to acquiring Family Dollar. The company did not raise its bid or offer any reassurance to Family Dollar shareholders that the deal would close — instead, it said it needed more time." Read more   Kroger eyeing major acquisition, analyst says by Steve Watkins a Cincinnati Business Courier. "All signs point to management's willingness to make a major acquisition," Carol Levenson wrote in a report last week [...]

  Holiday sales increase 4 percent: NRF by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. "Weaker-than-expected retail sales data shook investor confidence on Wednesday, as sales failed to reflect the boost from a steep drop in gasoline prices that many were expecting." Read more   Drop in December retail sales adds doubt to strength of U.S. economy by Shan Li at LA Times. "In December, retail sales dropped 0.9% to $442.9 billion, the largest fall since January 2014, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The increase in spending from October to November was also revised downward to 0.4% from 0.7%." Read more   Boxed, [...]

  Home Depot's Frank Blake Accepts Gold Medal award from NRF by Sarah Rand at NRF. "Frank Blake...gave a humble acceptance speech, saying he didn’t belong on a list with retail legends like Costco founder Jim Sinegal and Macy's Chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren...Blake recalled his advice to The Home Depot board of directors when they asked him to serve as CEO: to think again about their decision and find a more seasoned retailer." Read more   Dunnhumby searches for buyer by Erin Caproni at Cincinnati Business Courier. "Beleagured parent company Tesco announced last week that it had appointed advisers [...]

  Former Walmart CEO Bill Simon on CNBC by Tom DiChristopher. "Gas is an emotional purchase, as you know. People drive all the way across town for 2 or 3 cents a gallon. And now with gas at about half of what it was a year ago, I think consumer confidence is really starting to pick up," Simon said in an interview on CNBC." See the video / Read more   Retailers Presenting Today at ICR XChange (Wayfair, Big Lots, Five Below, Michaels) See the schedule   Amazon faces $25 million lawsuit from New York developer over Manhattan deal by [...]

  Amazon quick to issue refunds for returned products by Spencer Soper at SF Gate. "The Seattle company takes 1.3 days on average to return cash, the quickest among online stores, according to research from StellaService, which tracks e-commerce data." Read more   Obama to propose 30-day notification requirement for companies victimized by hackers at Fox News. "A White House official said Obama would announce the proposed legislation Monday, along with a measure aimed at preventing companies from selling student data to third parties and from using information collected in school to engage in targeted advertising." Read more   Walgreens [...]

  Target.com: 60% of Traffic Came from Mobile Over Holiday Season by Nick Halter at Minn./St. Paul Business Journal. "...up from just 25 percent last holiday season." Read more   ShopperTrak: Sales at 1,000 retail chains nationwide rose 4.6% to $270.1 billion in November and December, ShopperTrak, a Chicago technology company, said Thursday. The results beat ShopperTrak's forecast for a 3.8% increase and marked the strongest growth since 2005, when sales rose 5.2%." via AP/LA Times.  Read more   Family Dollar CEO: Merger turmoil drives management defections at HQ by Jennifer  Thomas at Charlotte Business Journal. "An analyst on that [...]