China falls for Christmas -- at least in its stores
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China's shopping malls in late December leave little doubt that the country has been smitten by Christmas, if not in quite the way devout Christians might hope.
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Retail spending, hurt by a falloff in auto sales, dipped slightly in January, but demand stayed strong in other areas as people rushed to malls with their Christmas gift cards.
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Higher costs in China could spell the end of an era of ultra-cheap goods.
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Amazon.com, eBay and other retailers fell in U.S. trading as cash-strapped consumers limited their Internet holiday purchases while waiting for better bargains.
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The holidays may be over, but the shopping hasn't stopped.
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Christmas sales in Britain appear set this year for another bonanza, but fewer retailers are likely to share in it amid signs consumer spending is wavering, a study said.
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For a lot of consumers, especially come December, the line appears to be blurring between giving and receiving.
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Retailers are in for a gloomy holiday season, with shoppers weighed down by the weakening housing market and the credit crunch, according to industry forecasts.
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China is not yet over the worst of a  winter weather crisis that has killed 60 and doomed millions to  a cold dark Lunar New Year holiday next week.
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Christmas came early for some retailers: While Wal-Mart Stores (nyse: WMT - news - people ) and Limited Brands (nyse: LTD - news - people ) were having a slow start to the holidays, Sears, Roebuck &amp; Co.
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NEW YORK -- Retailers opened earlier than ever on the day after Christmas on Wednesday and slashed prices with hopes of salvaging a holiday season that is falling short of already modest expectations.
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With Christmas a little more than a week away, many stores are finding themselves in the same predicament as in recent years: waiting for those last-minute shoppers who seem to be procrastinating even more than a year ago.
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Retail sales unexpectedly fall in December as consumers rein in their Christmas spending.
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Analysts have offered their latest judgment of the Christmas shopping season: good, but not great.
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British retailers have suffered their worst Christmas in 10 years. Were you cautious with your spending over the festive season?
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Europe's retailers showed tentative signs on Wednesday of having overcome bleak expectations for consumer spending in the run-up to Christmas, even as high street retail stocks in the US tumbled on the back of disappointing performance.
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U.S. retailers were hopeful on Monday that a dusting of snow on the East Coast would put consumers in the Christmas shopping mood after what has so far been a ho-hum holiday sales season.