A web-slinging toy by Hasbro Inc. and a racing timer featuring a digital LCD screen by Mattel Inc. should be two of the hottest selling toys this summer, according to the Spring 2007 Hot Dozen list by Toy Wishes Magazine.

Hasbro’s Deluxe Spinning Web Blaster lets children sling silly-string webs with a flick of the wrist just like Spiderman. The device looks like it was cut from Spiderman’s costume and straps onto the wrist.

Mattel’s Hot Wheels Racing Timer is meant to time foot or bike races and applauds competitors when they cross the finish line. The racers hear an announcer declare the winner while a digital LCD screen displays the time and speed for two racers.

Mattel’s Rainbow Adventure Elina Doll and DVD game, which are part of the company’s plan to revitalize its sagging Barbie line also made the list. The doll functions as an interactive controller for the game. 

The most expensive item to make the list is the $399.99 Banzai Double Drop Raceway by ToyQuest, an inflatable backyard waterslide featuring a waterfall.

Here’s the Spring 2007 Hot Dozen List in alpabetical order:

1. Baby Alive Sip ‘N Slurp by Hasbro;

2. Banzai Double Drop Raceway by ToyQuest;

3. Barbie FairyTopia Magic of the Rainbow: Rainbow Adventure Elina Doll and DVD Game;

4. Ben 10 Alien Voice Changer with Glasses by Bandai;

5. Crayola Sidewalk Paint Sprayer by Crayola;

6. Deluxe Spinning Web Blaster by Hasbro;

7. Dora Make A Splash Sprinkler by Imperial;

8. Hot Wheels Racing Timer by Mattel;

9. Moon Sand by Spin Master;

10. Pokemon Basic Figures and Deluxe Figures by Jakks Pacific;

11. Spiderman 3 Action Figures; and

12. Tamagotchi Connection V4 by Bandai.

Barnes & Noble and Borders Group, the top U.S. bookstore chains, reported quarterly results on Thursday.  Borders also announced a slew of changes, such as the possibility of exiting the bulk of its international business and closing down nearly half of its Waldenbooks stores.

Borders CEO George Jones, on the job since July, spoke with Reuters about his company’s plans.

Before we got down to some details on the major changes, here’s what Jones — a self-proclaimed “big, big Harry Potter fan” — had to say about the July launch of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”

“Presales … have been huge. They’ve surpassed our expectations and I think the publisher’s expectations, everything.”

“This should be the biggest one ever,” said Jones, who has not seen the book yet.

Jones and Robert Gruen, Borders’ executive VP of merchandising and marketing, both used to work at Warner Bros., the studio behind the Harry Potter movies.

“Believe me, whatever relationships we have, they aren’t that good.”

Jones joked about the movie “The Devil Wears Prada,” where Meryl Streep’s character Miranda Priestly asks her assistant Andy, played by Anne Hathaway, to track down an advance copy of the new Harry Potter book.

“Let me tell you, that’s a fictional story.”

Jones declined to discuss details of the partnerships Borders is working on for areas such as music downloads and online relationships. 
 
Why go back into the online business now (Borders linked up with Amazon.com in 2001 after launching its own site in 1998)?

“It’s just much more cost effective now to run it ourselves than it was 6 years ago,” Jones said. Also, now Borders will hold onto its shoppers rather than turning them over to Amazon, and shoppers at its online site can get Borders Rewards points, which they couldn’t do before.

How will items be priced online versus in the stores and versus the competition? 
     
“We realize that ultimately we are never going to win the battle on price, we’re not going to have a competitive advantage based on price,” Jones said. The company has not yet defined how items would be priced on the web site versus in its stores, he added. 
 
Borders will also try to fix its rewards program. Last year, consumers got certificates to redeem starting Nov. 15, which pressured sales during the important holiday season. 
Starting in May, the company will start to issue rewards more frequently, but Jones would not say how often they will be sent.

Jones declined to comment on whether Barnes & Noble changing some terms of its rewards program had any impact on Borders.

The Borders program has nearly 17 million members and counting.

    Baby Boomers and “Millennials,” Wal-Mart Canada has a job for you.
    The world’s largest retailer is looking to expand its employee base in Canada from 70,000 today to over 110,000 in the next five years.
    “When you factor in both our growth and turnover, we must hire over 40,000 people every year just to keep up,” said Mary-Alice Vuicic, vice president of people for Wal-Mart Canada, speaking at the retailer’s analyst and investor day that was held in Canada on Tuesday.
    To meet the challenge, Wal-Mart has taken a scientific approach, slicing its Canadian workforce into four key generational groups: traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X’ers, and “Millennials.”
    Here is what Vuicic had to say about each demographic and why Wal-Mart Canada is focusing on two of them — Baby Boombers and Millennials — as sources of new employees:
    — The traditionalists: “Born between 1933 and 1945, they make up less than 10 percent of the Canadian workforce and a little less at Wal-Mart. They’re focused on duty, they tend to be loyal to the company throughout their career, changing companies only one to two times at most,” she said.
    “While this group plays an important role in our office and in our stores today, we’re really not focused on them because it’s such a small segment,” she said.
    — The Baby Boomers: She said they were born between 1946 and 1964. They make up about 45 percent of the overall workforce, and represent the largest segment of the workforce in Wal-Mart.
    “They are competitive, work is their No. 1 priority and they strive to achieve,” she said. “They were the first to learn about layoffs during their careers and as a result they will change companies about two to three times in their career.”
    “As they age, because they focus so much on work, they are looking for more work-life flexibility,” she said. “If we can leverage that, that need for balance, we can grow this segment of our work force.”
    — The Gen X’ers: “They were born between 1965 and 1976,” she said. “They make up a quarter of the overall workforce in Canada and much less at Wal-Mart.”
    “They grew up in families where both parents worked,” she said. “This group is expected to change companies eight to ten times in their career. It’s not a group that we’re focusing aggressively on.”
    — The Millennials: “The newest generation, however, working in our stores, the millennials, born 1977 to 2000, is a target segment for us,” she said. “They make up 22 percent of the general workforce, and they are the fastest growing segment of our workforce in Wal-Mart.”
    “The millennials are already familiar with our company, they shopped our stores with their parents, as they moved out to go to school, and today as they begin to set up their homes,” she said.
    “They were raised in the most child-centric period in history. And thanks to the boomers, they were coached over dinner on how to negotiate for jobs and salaries. Tough group. They’re bright, keen and they need to be stimulated and involved in everything.”
    “They have short attention spans. They don’t respond to working for a boss, but they do respond to working for a leader and unless they are engaged, they are expected to change companies 19 times in their careers.”
    To try to get Baby Boomers and Millennials to consider Wal-Mart, she said the retailer is honing in on their wants:

    –A supportive manager
    –Interesting work
    –Work-life flexbility
    –Learning opportunities
    –Social Interaction
    –To work for a company that values environmental sustainability
    

So which of these groups do you fall under and would you consider working for Wal-Mart?

What could be luckier than getting married on the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year? How about having that July 7, 2007 wedding at your local Wal-Mart?

The world’s largest retailer on Tuesday announced a contest where seven couples will win a wedding and reception at a Wal-Mart lawn and a garden center.

The contest, sponsored by Wal-Mart and G Squared is in connection with something called “Proposal Day.”

Winners will receive a wedding package with an estimated value of more than $5,000, which includes a cake, food, 14-karat gold and diamond wedding bands, floral bouquets, digital cameras, a $1,000 Wal-Mart gift card and more.

But it is also an essay test. The application asks contests to answer the question “Why is this wedding ceremony and reception location of interest to you?”

The winning couples won’t be the first to get married at Wal-Mart.

“Local lawn and garden areas have provided a vibrant backdrop for a variety of ‘I do’s’ over the years for those who have ‘found love’ at Wal-Mart,” the retailer said in a press release.

February storms blew in mixed results for U.S. retailers, with the likes of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Federated Department Stores Inc. reporting weak February sales, while upscale department stores like Nordstrom Inc. and Saks Inc. thrived.
The following are February same-store sales for select U.S. retailers, compared with what analysts expected.

The table includes the range of mean estimates* given by analysts polled by Reuters, the average of those means#, and the actual change in same-store sales reported by the companies^.

All figures are expressed as percentage changes over the same period last year except for “number of estimates.”

**For U.S. stores
~Reported on Wednesday.
~~Reported on Tuesday.

(Compiled by Dilipp S. Nag in Bangalore)

   British grocer Tesco’s move into the U.S. market is likely to be evolutionary and influence how other food retailers address the U.S. market.
    Those are the thoughts of H.J. Heinz Co. Chairman and Chief Executive William Johnson.
    Tesco, the largest retailer in Britain, is set to open its “Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores this year, initially targeting Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego and the greater Phoenix area.
    “We’ll be very interested to see the Tesco experiment on the West Coast, very interested, because I think Tesco is an outstanding retailer. It will be interesting to see how that plays out,” Heinz Chairman and CEO William Johnson said at the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago.
    “It’s going to be an evolution in the way that American consumers buy products and that the retail trade is going to have to address.”
    Johnson’s comments were made at the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago. The summit continues through Thursday.