By Jessica Wohl

(Reuters) – A factory fire that killed more than 100 garment workers in Bangladesh has led the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, to concede that it needs to do more to control its supply chain and keep unauthorized manufacturers out.

In an interview with Reuters, his first since the November 24 Tazreen Fashions fire, Wal-Mart Vice President of Ethical Sourcing Rajan Kamalanathan said the company’s current controls could only go so far in preventing a factory Wal-Mart did not approve of from making its clothes, as was the case here.

Dec 11 (Reuters) – A factory fire that killed more than 100
garment workers in Bangladesh has led the world’s largest
retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, to concede that it needs
to do more to control its supply chain and keep unauthorized
manufacturers out.

In an interview with Reuters, his first since the Nov. 24
Tazreen Fashions fire, Wal-Mart Vice President of Ethical
Sourcing Rajan Kamalanathan said the company’s current controls
could only go so far in preventing a factory Wal-Mart did not
approve of from making its clothes, as was the case here.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – The falloff in visits to U.S. stores the week after Thanksgiving was not as steep this year as last, as retailers appear to be doing a better job of luring shoppers during the holiday season, the founder of shopper counting firm ShopperTrak said.

So what exactly is ShopperTrak? Its data is often quoted by media and analysts during the holiday shopping season. But to the shoppers it is tracking, the company is all but invisible.

Dec 5 (Reuters) – Opening their doors and offering sales on
Thanksgiving did more than give retailers an early start to the
holiday shopping season – the holiday actually may have drawn
more shoppers than “Black Friday.”

Thirty percent of Americans surveyed in a new Reuters/Ipsos
poll said they shopped either online or in stores this past
Thanksgiving Day, slightly more than shopped on the day after,
which is typically the biggest shopping day of the year.

Dec 5 (Reuters) – Opening their doors and offering sales on
Thanksgiving did more than give retailers an early start to the
holiday shopping season – the holiday actually may have drawn
more shoppers than “Black Friday.”

Thirty percent of Americans surveyed in a new Reuters/Ipsos
poll said they shopped either online or in stores this past
Thanksgiving Day, slightly more than shopped on the day after,
which is typically the biggest shopping day of the year.

Nov 29 (Reuters) – Leading U.S. retailers said weak sales in
early November, when people in the Northeast were cleaning up
after superstorm Sandy, dragged down results for the month,
despite brisk activity over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

Target Corp and Macy’s Inc, two of the biggest
companies to report monthly sales on Thursday, missed analysts’
expectations. Both said the weakness came at the beginning of
November, not during the Thanksgiving weekend rush.

By Jessica Wohl

(Reuters) – Retailers got a lift over the long Thanksgiving weekend, driving gains in November sales despite some pressure earlier in the month from superstorm Sandy, but the results are not expected to match the gains of a year earlier.

Sales at stores open at least a year among the chains that continue to report the data will be closely watched for indications of consumer spending during the beginning of the holiday season.

By Jessica Wohl

(Reuters) – Costco Wholesale Corp on Wednesday said it will pay a special dividend totaling roughly $3 billion, the largest payout so far from any company ahead of a likely increase in the dividend tax.

The retailer also posted monthly same-store sales that beat analysts’ expectations.

DHAKA/CHICAGO (Reuters) – Thousands of angry textile workers demonstrated in the outskirts of Dhaka on Monday after a fire swept through a garment workshop at the weekend, killing more than 100 people in Bangladesh’s worst-ever factory blaze.

The fire has put a spotlight on global retailers that source clothes from Bangladesh, where the cost of labor is low – as little as $37 a month for some workers – and rights groups have called on big-brand firms to sign up to a fire safety program.

CHICAGO/SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Online shopping
has grown sharply so far this holiday shopping season after U.S.
retailers pushed out a slew of mobile and Internet deals that
lured consumers before Cyber Monday, traditionally the biggest
day for e-commerce in America.

While it remains to be seen if the gains on Thanksgiving Day
and Black Friday can be sustained, the latest estimates show
shoppers scooping up early special offers via their smart phones
and tablets, the way they used to hunt for bargains in
brick-and-mortar stores.