The city's proposal to rezone part of the Upper West Side to discourage big box chain stores and banks from proliferating will have "unanticipated consequence," according to the Columbus Avenue Business Improvement District. BID Executive Director Barbara Adler tells us the city's plan "is a solution looking for a problem. We have no problem on Columbus now. Columbus has been able to weather all markets for many years, it's in the historic district, it's different from Broadway and Amsterdam, and we feel tampering with our storefronts and telling property owners what they can or can't do would be huge mistake. " more ›

While tomorrow is "Black Friday," the official start of the Christmas shopping season, many retailers have been opening their doors today, on the Thanksgiving federal holiday, to give Americans a chance to spend their money without going to the 5 a.m. doorbusters and not killing workers in a stampede. And, retail experts say, it's the 99% who are the Black Friday fiends. more ›

Kim Kardashian, soon to be married to Nets forward Kris Humphries, sued Old Navy recently after they used a model that looked like her in their latest campaign. She claimed the Fauxdashian cost her around $20 million, and now TMZ explains the suit was an effort to protect a deal with... Sears. Gotta pay for those kitten-sized rings and glitter ponies somehow! more ›

Poor Victoria's Secret—the chain just can't catch a break. Last year the lingerie-peddling company was felled by bedbugs, accusations of encouraging eating disorders, and, last but not least, reselling used underwear. Today, Vickie and her Angels are under fire again, this time for needlessly destroying returned merchandise—and we're not talking about used thongs. more ›

Earlier this month, Walmart representatives refused to attend City Council hearings on their planned invasion of East New York, citing how unfair it was that everyone was ganging up on them while giving other chains an easy time. Now on the eve of another public hearing this Thursday, Walmart has decided to go on the offensive, with a series of radio, newspaper and mailer ads to try to appeal to people directly, while ignoring the Council and other politicians/critics. And they're kind of bitchy ads. more ›

As you may have heard, there have been some objections raised to a rumored Walmart location in East New York. The City Council is holding hearings at the beginning of next month, and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio recently released a report suggesting that a Walmart in NYC would "eliminate more jobs than it creates, result in the loss of independently owned small businesses, and create an increased burden on taxpayers." But the big box company probably isn't sweating it, because its got NY Post columnist Andrea Peyser in its corner. In her column today, titled "Absurd Wal of Fear," Peyser targets one of the studies cited by de Blasio: more ›

Know who's interested in buying J. Crew? Sears and Urban Outfitters. According to Bloomberg News, the two wildly different retail chains are "weighing rival bids.. in a potential challenge to TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP’s $3 billion buyout." An analyst said if Sears bought it, it "would be great for Sears, but horrible for J. Crew... J. Crew is positioned as aspirational and Sears is not. It would have a negative impact on the J. Crew brand," adding it doesn't make sense for Urban Outfitters either because UO and J.Crew have overlapping customers. more ›

Those last minute shoppers were out in full force yesterday. The Daily News found people snapping up deals—one woman said at the DSW in Union Square, "You won't believe the sales! The prices are so low I can't buy everything I want because I can't carry it all home," while a woman shopping at a Red Hook Lane Bryant (she spent $300) exclaimed, "They're selling stuff before Christmas like it's after Christmas. I think I saved a whole month's pay." One woman at the Herald Square Macy's splurged on a $938 Louis Vuitton bag for her mom, "She deserves it. She's a single mom raising three kids. She's worked all her life." more ›

Forget Black Friday, retailers are looking for a little Christmas miracle with last-minute Christmas shoppers hitting the stores today. The AP explains, "For stores, this 11th-hour dash caps the best holiday season since 2007, and possibly the best ever. With Christmas falling on a Saturday this year, Friday is a holiday for most workers. That allowed shoppers to hit the stores first thing in the morning." Burning up your cash today, celebrating Baby Jesus tomorrow—Christmas, it's a helluva holiday! more ›

Walmart, Walmart, Walmart. No matter how many times we say no, you just keep coming back. Just look: Now the bigboxer says it is really, really serious about breaking into the five boroughs. How serious? So serious they've gone and hired Bloomberg's former campaign manager Bradley Tusk to spearhead their latest effort (maybe that explains the goodwill for the company coming from the mayor's office?). So serious they've leaked a survey that finds New Yorkers in favor of their new shopping overlords. All of which leads to the City Council, where a meeting on the prospect called "When Wal-Mart Comes to Town," originally scheduled for tomorrow, has been postponed to accomodate all the people who want to have their voices heard. All to say good things, we're sure. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Just 281 days left until the next Fashion's Night Out! It would be 283 days, but because of concerns over security downtown on the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, the annual night of shopping "to celebrate fashion, restore consumer confidence, and boost the industry's economy" is getting bumped to September 8th instead of the usual September 10th. Mayoral spokesman Andrew Brent told DNAinfo that the 1st Precinct worried about having enough people to monitor both events. "There were multiple events last year and that was something that was raised by the precinct. It was likely a staffing issue that became moot when they moved it." more ›

Wal-Mart (love it or hate it) is not only trying to open a store in the city, they want to open stores, plural!, all over the five boroughs. Crain's reports that the City Council has scheduled a hearing next month to review the impact the big box would have on mom and pops since the company wants to move forward with its diabolical plan to set up shop in NYC. The hearing is the 14th, and has been given the title: “When Wal-Mart Comes to Town" (can't you just picture the children's book, complete with a lake of hellfire?). more ›

Now that Black Friday is over, let's survey the damage some shoppers did. A 23-year-old student who had been camping outside at the Union Square Best Buy since Tuesday afternoon bought "a Sony laptop for $399, saving $300, and buy a 32-inch Samsung TV and Nintendo Wii, both for just $435, saving more than $300." He told the Post, "When I finally got in, it felt like the gates of heaven opened up. I had to miss a couple of days of school to be here." more ›

It's barely after 9 a.m. and many Americans have already gone to and come back from big retailers' Black Friday sales. Especially since some stores had their Black Friday sales start last night: One Queens resident was at the Times Square Toys 'R' Us, which was opening at 10 p.m.; she told the AP, "I thought, good, we'll come here and I won't have to go tomorrow," but then admitted she would also be getting up at 6 a.m. for more bargain hunting. more ›

Even though the recession has been over for some time, it's still tough to find a job in the city. Many qualified graduates with diverse degrees have had to settle for jobs in service or retail to make ends meet while sending out countless resumes to accounting firms or publishing houses. Not that jobs in the service industry aren't great, they just aren't for everyone. So you can imagine how excited we got when a Daily News headline read, "Companies are looking to start staffing up again." Callooh! Callay! Jobs for everyone! And then we read further: "Many of the businesses currently looking for staff are retailers, restaurants and hotels, all of whom are gearing up for the influx of tourists for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays." more ›

In the Wall Street Journal's article about Wal-Mart's interest in opening dozens of "smaller" stores in urban areas, there's a sign that Mayor Bloomberg would be happy to welcome the retail behemoth: Mayoral spokesman Andrew Brent said, "We shouldn't tell businesses that want to invest and create jobs in New York City that they can't. New Yorkers are already voting with their feet when they drive outside the City to shop at stores that aren't in the five boroughs." more ›

First that Pizzeria Uno gets bounced out of the neighborhood, and now the Ben & Jerry's on Third Avenue by Astor Place has shuffled off this mortal coil. Is no corporate chain safe from the Great Recession, which is supposed to be over anyway? Vanishing New York spotted this sign in the window of the establishment and writes, "I have mild, mixed feelings. I am not 100% anti-chainstore, and this one was so depressing and weird, so vintage 1980s, it had a certain odd appeal. I guess we'll soon be welcoming yet another bubble-tea lounge to this strip." more ›

In an attempt to ease New York into the idea of markets the size of LaGuardia Airport selling everything from fruit to clogs to fishing gear, the Wal-Mart franchise is looking to open quaint shoppes in urban areas—which means the cutest li'l stores you've seen under 20,000 square feet. Real estate broker Faith Consolo says Wal-Mart has been talking to lawyers and brokers about the expansion, which they want to get started on as early as next month. She told AP, "I see this as a smart move, instead of coming into a market as a 900-pound gorilla. They're on an aggressive roll." Where's that Lake of Hellfire we were promised? more ›

Will New Yorkers soon be scaling walls in the landmarked Puck Building on Lafayette Street? According to the Real Deal, REI has inked a deal to move in to a 39,000-square-foot, three-floor space in the building, which will include a bike shop and "Outdoor School" courses, in addition to their gear and other goods. The store is their first in New York City, and will be the first retail outlet in the building in over 100 years—they plan to open in the fall of 2011, and as Bowery Boogie points out, "the EMS store on Broadway just around the corner is probably pissed." more ›

The hunch about Barnes and Noble's Lincoln Square location at West 66th Street and Broadway succumbing to the neighborhood's "fashion corridor" status was right: Discount retailer Century 21 confirmed the rumor that it will take over the 60,000 square foot space. more ›

The NY State Senate Democrats had to return a $15,000 donation from mega retailer Walmart after labor union leaders freaked out. According to the Post, "The action came just days after last week's disclosure in The Post that the Democrats had accepted the cash from the union-resisting Arkansas-based retail chain, which is believed to be interested in putting its first city store in Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson's Brooklyn district." A spokesman for Sampson, who also heads the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, said, "I can confirm that the money was returned. That's as far as I'm going to go on it." more ›

With Barneys Co-op moving in to downtown Brooklyn, the NY Times declares the borough to be "the new bastion of cool for many New Yorkers... poised to go mainstream chic" (*shivers*). Allegedly following the well-heeled lead of Barneys—Jonathan Adler, Swarovski Crystal, Anthropologie and other high end retailers have been snooping around for some prime real estate in the neighborhood. more ›

The 163-year-old church that formerly housed the Limelight will now be known as the Limelight Marketplace. Times they are a changin'. The mini mall opens this Friday at 2 p.m.—it boasts 20,000-square-feet and 60 shops, cafes and food concessions throughout multiple levels (here's a sneak peek at what's inside). Get ready to party... right? Just leave your glow sticks and blow at home. more ›

Say what? There's a study out that claims Manhattan shops are less likely to carry unhealthy snacks (candies, chips, sodas, etc). According to researchers at the Tulane University School of Public Health, we're at less of a risk of coming into contact with snacks at the checkout than anywhere else in the country. The NY Post points out that Manhattan's obesity rate is 16%, as compared to the rest of the country at 33%—which may be related. more ›

In light of H&M and the city recently trashing perfectly good items that could have gone to charity, one blogger at Tree Hugger digs deeper to find out how Urban Outfitters handles their unwanted goods. She happened to stumble upon a bunch of boxes outside of their 14th Street and 6th Avenue store, all taped up with the words "broken" adorning them. more ›

To keep their unsold merchandise from being worn or put on the market by other sellers, Manhattan clothing retailers are shredding their excess merchandise instead of donating it, according to the Times. Scavengers have started sifting through the trash bags piled up behind the H&M's 34th Street shop in search of garb that hasn't been destroyed with box cutters or razors. A few doors down, a company contracted to work for Wal-Mart allegedly covered the sidewalk with trash bags stuffed clothing that had been punched with holes. Onlookers spotted gloves with the fingers cut off, shoes with scissors taken to the instep and jackets slashed across the arms and body. Both H&M and the company working with Wal-Mart are located around the corner from a major collection point for New York Cares, which conducts a coat drive every winter. more ›

Theft among retail workers is up — particularly the fraudulent use of gift cards, the Times reports. According to a recent study, store workers, not shoplifters, are responsible for the majority of the estimated $36 billion per year that is heisted from retail establishments, and a growing number of thieving employees are using gift certificates to commit their crimes. more ›