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News for the retail industry | November 20, 2012   Retailer Holiday Watch  Best Buy's Black Friday lines began on Monday    Reuters Customers started lining up at a Best Buy store in Southern California on Monday, eager to be the first in the door for deep Black Friday discounts on TVs and laptops. Many say they're developing a sense of community with their fellow shoppers while waiting in line for days. San Bernardino County Sun (Calif.) (11/19)      Macy's famous holiday windows not limited to NYC Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (11/15)      Tumi aims for big holiday spenders with $5,995 briefcase CNBC/Consumer Nation blog (11/16)      Home Depot debuts humorous cat mascot for social holiday campaign Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (11/14)      Mall of America to open 180 stores at midnight on Black Friday American City Business Journals/Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. (11/17)      Product Platform of Choice TradeStone's extensive product footprint spans from product design and development through sourcing, production, quality management, supplier management, order management, logistics, finance and even business intelligence. Learn why retailers and brand manufacturers around the world made TradeStone MLM their platform of choice.   Seasonal Trends  Retailers get aggressive for their slice of the holiday pie    Reuters Retailers are more competitive this holiday season in competing for consumers' holiday shopping dollars. Target began holiday advertising in October, and Black Friday advertising began weeks earlier than last year. Retailers that don't traditionally bump up against each other, such as home improvement stores and drugstores, also are seeking to "insert themselves into the conversation," says National Retail Federation's Kathy Grannis. U.S. News & World Report (11/16)      10 things to understand about layaway shoppers Forbes (11/15)      Almost 23% of consumers plan to shop on Thanksgiving MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (11/19)      How retailers plan to outsmart showrooming The Denver Post (11/19)      It's all about mobile: Why gift cards will be huge this holiday season Forbes (11/14)      Reports: Smaller Black Friday crowds will spend more MediaPost Communications (11/15)        2012 PLM Vendor Marketscape Read a leading analyst firm's comprehensive vendor assessment of the retail product lifecycle management applications market for apparel, footwear and hardlines products. Request a copy of the report today!     NRF News  Top tactics for promoting Black Friday weekend deals The tradition of Black Friday has evolved into Black Friday weekend, and retailers understand that Thanksgiving Day itself has become a significant shopping day. Shop.org’s 2012 eHoliday survey discovered that 46% of retailers polled planned specific Thanksgiving Day promotions, which is just a small serving of what brands have planned to get the word out about their in-store and online weekend deals. Read more. Shop.org Blog (11/16)      NRF: Fix the fiscal cliff by Black Friday Congress has targeted a Dec. 31 deadline to implement a solution to the upcoming fiscal cliff. But in a letter sent to President Obama and lawmakers, NRF CEO Matthew Shay explained that the New Year's Eve deadline doesn’t ease shoppers’ concerns entering the winter holidays -- a critical juncture for retailers and the economy. “Demonstrating the ability to work in a bipartisan manner will ease consumers’ worries and avoid severe economic consequences during the single most crucial spending season of the entire year,” Shay said. Read more. Retail's BIG Blog (11/15)          Product announcements appearing in SmartBrief are paid advertisements and do not reflect actual NRF endorsements. The news reported in SmartBrief does not necessarily reflect the official position of NRF. Subscriber Tools       Print friendly format | Web version | Search past news | Archive | Privacy policy Grab our News Widget Publish your Press Release   Advertise Associate Publisher:  Dena Malouf (202) 407-7837 Download Media Kit Job Board:  Jackie Basso (202) 407-7871       Recent NRF SmartBrief Issues: Monday, November 19, 2012 Friday, November 16, 2012 Thursday, November 15, 2012 Wednesday, November 14, 2012 Tuesday, November 13, 2012     Lead Editor:  Megan Conniff       Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004     © 1999-2012 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information