Liz Claiborne is pulling its namesake brand’s wholesale business from Germany, Sweden and Russia, the company said on Friday. The decision affects only the Liz Claiborne brand, which it had just begun to roll out in those markets, a company spokesperson told Reuters in an e-mailed statement.

Liz, along with other brands such as Mexx and Kate Spade, intends to focus on better established European markets such as France, Belgium and Iberia instead of expanding into new ones, the spokesperson said.

The report first appeared Friday morning in trade publication Women’s Wear Daily.

Liz has struggled recently due to falling demand for traditional upscale brands and lower sales from consolidating department stores that increasingly promote their own labels. The company also recently cut its profit outlook for the year.

(Photo: Reuters)

So maybe you missed the doorbuster promotions, your family already has a Wii, or the emphasis on the material just doesn’t make your heart go pitter-pat. What then, come the holidays?
    
As the gift-giving days loom ever closer, a slew of organizations are touting non-traditional gifts, from adopting a lemur to jumping out of an airplane.
    
According to gift-giving company Excitations, 41 percent of consumers don’t even remember that amazing holiday gift you gave them last year. But maybe funding a Mexico City soccer league, cataract surgery in Ghana, or helping conservation efforts in Angola might not be so easily forgotten.
 
At the World Wildlife Fund, you can adopt a proboscis monkey, red-footed booby or Galapagos Island tortoise (and get a cute furry stuffed-animal equivalent). At Utah’s Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, you’ll be sure to find a wet-nosed dog, cat, bunny or even goat who needs to be sponsored (our personal feline favorites are the rotund Buddy Boy and the fanged Scooter). 
    
At http://www.changingthepresent.org, gift-givers can choose their favorite cause, from human rights to disaster relief and landmines. Choices include giving money to fund a cellphone for an African farmer, funding brain cancer research, paying for a child’s cleft palate surgery or helping homeless American veterans. 
    
Looking for something more hedonistic? Http://www.excitations.com offers the opportunity to drive a Formula 2000 race car, attend the NFL Player of the Year dinner, take a falconry excursion, or master the art of mixing through a cocktail master class for two.

Gift cards even exist in the realm of charity. At http://www.charitygiftcertificates.org gift recipients can choose their favorite charity in spending their gift from you. 

Happy Shopping! (and don’t forget the lemurs)

Photo from World Wildlife Fund Web Site. 

Sears Holdings Chairman Edward Lampert apparently wasn’t happy with the media coverage an analyst comments following the retailer’s disappointing earnings report Thursday.
 
“While we were not pleased with these results, much of the commentary in the media and on Wall Street following the results ignores the strength of our company and the progress that we have made,” Lampert said.
 
Read the entire letter  and tell us if you agree or disagree.

(Photo: Reuters)

Check out earnings on the affluent side
 
J. Crew beat analysts estimates for the third quarter and posted a surprising 21 percent revenue increase.
 
The company said its focus on fashion for more affluent customers helped boost revenue.
 
And speaking of affluent, Tiffany came in  this morning with an 18 percent sales jump, helped by growth in most markets, even Japan, which had seen declining sales. Earnings also jumped, but largely on the gain from the sale of the jeweler’s flagship store in Japan.
 
An higher-end customer base seems to be working for the companies as a way to avoid the woes plaguing other retailers.
 
Tiffany is so far pleased with sales in the all-important November-December holiday season, though the vast majority of the holiday business is yet to come.
 
On the other end of the spending spectrum, Big Lots said it now expects same-store sales to fall in the holiday quarter. The close-out retailer had previously forecast a 1 percent to 3 percent increase.

Big Lots said consumers are focused on deals, loading up on discounted items during their shopping trips and not browsing for much more.

That is problematic for retailers, who sacrifice profits on the discounted items, hoping shoppers will then make an extraneous purchase or two — and salvage their margins.

More details on holiday sales will come next week, when retailers report November sales figures. 
 
Also in the basket:
 
October personal spending, income edge up
 
Woolworth’s seen as front runner for NZ’s warehouse

(Photo: Reuters)

This was suppposed to be the year of the “Green” Christmas.

Groups from consulting firm Deloitte to nonprofit environmental group Conservation International published surveys saying Americans were looking for eco-friendly gifts for the holiday season.

According to a survey commissioned by Deloitte, 18 percent of respondents said they would purchase more eco-friendly products this holiday season than in the past, and 17 percent said they will shop at more green retailers.

A survey conducted by Conservation International found that 53 percent of Americans would prefer to receive green gifts this holiday season compared to a traditional gift of equal value. 43 percent said that they plan on giving green gifts during the holidays. 

But U.S. retailers do not seem to be placing a big emphasis on green this holiday season outside of their Christmas decorations.

Thick catalogs continue to clog mailboxes, store personnel keep handing out free gift boxes, and plastic bags are everywhere. 

There is little to no signage in stores emphasizing eco-friendly products, beyond those at select chains known for their environmental thrust. 

What gives? 

Well, as retailers fear shoppers may clamp down on holiday spending in the wake of higher food and fuel prices, the slowing U.S housing market and the credit crunch, they are loath to do anything to turn off their clientele. They certainly don’t want to make them think twice about buying that extra sweater or new TV because of its environmental impact.

And according to Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at research firm NPD Group, the “green” movement has already browned out.

“It’s basically a card that a lot of people played while it was hot and trendy,” he said. “And it got overplayed.” (Read full story here)

(Photo: Reuters)

Women are from Nordstrom, men are from Sears. That’s according to a new study by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School that found different priorities for men and women when it comes to shopping.
    
As this female reporter and avid shopper knows well, women are “happy to meander through sprawling clothing and accessory collections or detour through the shoe department,” according to the survey.
    
Men, on the other hand, are not as fun: “Men want to go to Sears, buy a specific tool and get out,” said Robert Price, a member of the advisory board of Wharton’s Jay H. Baker Retail Initiative.
    
The study, in conjunction with Toronto consulting firm the Verde Group, found that men’s interest in shopping has atrophied after years of being taken care of by women. And they seem to be annoyed more by parking. The top problem that rankled men, according to the survey, is “difficulty in finding parking close to the store’s entrance.”
    
Women, on the other hand, who represent 83 percent of U.S. consumer spending, are put off when they can’t find help in stores when needed, and value personal interaction with store employees more than men. And if staff make women shoppers feel important, so much the better, the survey found.
    
But ultimately, shopping strategies for men and women harken back to the cave.
    
“Women are gatherers. Men are hunters,” said Delia Passi of WomenCertified, a retail training organization that also worked on the study. “Women walk into a store and scan. Men look for a specific aisle.”

Check out dismal results from Sears, an unfavorable jobs report and a pipeline explosion pouring cold water on the retail sector.

U.S. retail stocks got a boost on Wednesday after comments by the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve raised expectations for an interest rate cut in December and a sharp drop in oil prices for a second day eased worries that high energy costs might squeeze consumers going into the holiday season.

But the good news was short-lived.

Thursday morning, investors were greeted by news that there was a Canada-U.S. pipeline explosion, which sent oil prices surging. Then the Labor Department said the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless aid rose by 23,000 last week to the highest since February (although the impact of the Thanksgiving holiday may have contributed to the data’s volatility.)

And then there were those results from Sears.

The retailer reported a 99 percent drop in quarterly profit as sales at stores open at least a year fell at its U.S. Kmart and Sears locations. 

“We are very disappointed in our performance for the third quarter. We cannot blame our results entirely on the retail and macro-economic environments. We have much on which to improve and are working hard to do so,” said Aylwin Lewis, Sears Holdings’ chief executive.

The results prompted Gary Balter, an analyst with Credit Suisse, to title his research note: Sears Holdings: Death Spiral?

“It should be clear to investors that if Sears continues to try to make it as a retailer, it will likely not happen,” he wrote in the note.

Also in the basket:

Heinz quarterly profit jumps 18 percent

Smithfield profit hit by costs, low hog prices

Brown-Forman quarterly profit rises 4.5 percent

Retailers headed into the holiday season with growing inventories and some early season discounts, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday in its “Beige Book” report.  The following are some excerpts from the report, which was based on Fed district reports compiled on or before Nov. 16.
 
  “Most Districts reported that retailers expect growth in retail sales to be modest at best relative to last year, and retailers generally were described as having a ‘cautious’ attitude about the upcoming holiday season.” 
 
   “Several reports indicated that retail inventories have risen a bit of late and were higher than desired levels during the survey period.” 
 
   However, not every region was gloomy.
 
   “The Boston, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Kansas City Districts highlighted a pickup in retail sales relative to the preceding survey period.”
 
   “Among product categories, several Districts noted continued solid growth in sales of consumer electronics, while a few also noted that demand for luxury goods continued to rise at a healthy pace.”

Toy retailers got a cheerleader in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt on Tuesday, who cited the vast majority of safe goods imported into the country while touting an import safety plan presented earlier this month to President George W. Bush.
    
After buying a Tickle Me Elmo, a Wii and other toys for his grandchildren at a Los Angeles-area Toys ‘R’ Us, Leavitt told reporters that independent certification was needed in order to insure safety before goods, whether toys or food, were imported.
    
“We have a fundamentally sound system, but it’s being tested by the quantity of things coming across our borders,” said the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency. 
   
Other recommendations of the “Action Plan for Import Safety” include increased transparency, strengthening penalties against violators and training foreign inspection agencies.
    
But Leavitt suggested that retailers themselves have the most to gain by being diligent about their supply chain.
    
“They are saying to their suppliers, unless the (toys) are safe … we don’t want them on our shelves,” Leavitt said.  “The market will punish rapidly and severely anyone who puts products that are unsafe on the shelf.”
    
But some legislation will be necessary, he said, such as a law that would give the Food and Drug Administration authority to pursue mandatory food recalls.
    
Lawmakers have proposed legislation that would virtually ban lead in toys and would give the Consumer Product Safety Commission more muscle to enforce its standards.

Mattel Inc, the world’s largest toy company, has recalled about 21 million toys this year because of lead paint and hazards posed by small magnets.  

Check out “Cyber Monday.”
 
More consumers shopped online on the first Monday after Thanksgiving, but they were spending less on average, according to market research firm comScore Inc.
 
A record $733 million total was spent by online shoppers Monday, according to comScore.
 
But to put things in perspective, that record day  was still less than the $945 million in sales Wal-Mart Stores had in an average day last year. (Granted, that includes the international division and Sam’s Club. For the Wal-Mart Stores division, the average was $620 million.)
 
“In the retail scheme of things, it’s minuscule,” Marshal Cohen, industry analyst at NPD Group said about online sales and “Cyber Monday.” “Online for holidays at best is going to represent 6 percent of the total holiday business. So it’s really still such a small part of the pie.”
 
The term “Cyber Monday” was coined by the retail network shop.org. But analysts say the day is losing some of its importance and that it isn’t even the biggest online shopping day of the season.
 
Still, comScore said 44 percent of Internet users shopped online on Monday, with sites belonging to Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Dell, Target and Best Buy the most visited.
 
Also in the basket:
 
Brown Shoe profit slightly higher, FY view cut
 
Gap to sell Hardy-designed shoes in U.S. stores
 
LVMH’s Arnault sees luxury spending doubling in 5 years
 
Lampert swings, misses (Chicago Tribune)

– Additional reporting by Nicole Maestri

(Photo: Reuters)