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A KEY SEASON: For many retailers, including consumer electronics chains, holiday business accounts for as much as 40 percent of sales. For toy sellers, it's 50 percent, while mall-based clothing chains usually make just 20 percent of their revenue at the end of the year.
Determined not to repeat last year's holiday season, when retailers amassed so much stock they offered rampant discounts to clear it out, stores are leaning toward more practical and lower-priced items.
Shoppers may be thinking about spring, but some retailers are reluctantly setting their sights on Christmas.
A giant Christmas straw goat that has been targeted in a violent Christmas tradition for four decades in Sweden was burned down yet again on Saturday, an official said.
Two hours before the doors were set to open Friday morning, a Miami-area Wal-Mart parking lot was full of cars — and possibility. But in a Christmas shopping season in which many Americans were unwilling to spend, even a packed lot doesn't always translate into holiday cheer for stores.
What’s even more painful than the “morning-after” hangover you may feel after too much holiday cheer? The “month-after” holiday credit card bills! Each year millions of us vow that we will stick to our holiday budgets only to find ourselves more in debt than ever. The good news is that there are steps we can take to ease the pain and make sure that we don’t end up in the same place again next year.
Army Sgt. Robin Cameron stood guard outside a once opulent Iraqi shopping mall that now serves as a small U.S. military outpost, trying not to think about what he was missing with his family on Christmas.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II delivered a somber Christmas broadcast Thursday, acknowledging how the economic crisis has cast a shadow over the traditional festive season.
Bethlehem marked Christmas on Thursday with crowds of tourists joining local Palestinian Christians in Jesus' traditional birthplace, as the West Bank town basked in its once-a-year appearance in the world spotlight.
Severe weather across the U.S. has caused a delivery backlog at FedEx Corp., prompting the shipping company to take the extraordinary step of keeping all of its domestic sorting stations open for four hours on Christmas Day to allow customers to pick up packages.
A letter to Santa from a 12-year-old boy who asks simply that he and other impoverished children like him are not forgotten this Christmas season generated an outpouring of gifts from residents of his small farm town.
Holidays derailing your diet? You're not alone. We asked our readers to tell us about the temptations they've given into — and those they've managed to resist — and got some confessions.
President George W. Bush is spending Christmas at Camp David, the 12th time he and his family have celebrated the Yuletide holiday at the Maryland presidential retreat.
'Tis the season to gather, be grateful for what we have and share what we can. But for cinephiles, it's awards season, and that means dreary fare — particularly with a World War II or Holocaust focus. No fewer than six are set for release this holiday season.
Pope Benedict XVI urged a world confronting a financial crisis, conflict, and increasing poverty not to lose hope at Christmas, but to join in "authentic solidarity" to prevent global ruin.
James S. Anderson is about to spend his fifth straight Christmas behind bars. The difference this time is he's no longer a convict.
Claire Anastas' house is surrounded on three sides by a gray cement wall. Israel's separation barrier has forced the family to close its car repair business because customers can no longer get there.
At overflowing garbage dumps in Zimbabwe's capital, desperate vagrants pounced on trash bags and fought over chicken bones and scraps of discarded food. Sewage clogged streets and most shopkeepers didn't even bother with holiday decorations.
For the first time in his life, Ryan Burns can’t afford to go home for the holidays. During Christmases past, he and his wife and two kids have traditionally spent much of the day in the car driving from their home in Orlando, Fla., to gatherings with their parents and grandparents, who live in various towns in Georgia.
Repetition can sometimes kill otherwise great material. A song with a catchy beat and interesting lyrics can lose its punch after being overplayed, and or replaying movies can reveal their flaws over time. A lot of great pop culture can become predictable and lose its power once it's been viewed, read, or listened to multiple times.
Amsterdam hosted a Christmas celebration for its gay community on Sunday featuring a nativity tableau with a male Mary in drag that church organizations denounced as an affront to traditional values.
The last Sunday before Christmas was celebrated with a carol service in a downtown Johannesburg church that has become a haven for hundreds of Zimbabweans who have fled their nation's collapse.
The holidays should be a time of joy, but that doesn’t mean they come without challenges. Much of the mail I’ve been getting is from people grappling with how to enjoy the season without spending as much as they used to.
Christmas is a time for giving — giving to your friends, your family, your neighbors, your postman. The list goes on and on. But how do you give to others when you’re not receiving a paycheck yourself?
Mastering Uncertainty podcast with Expert Karen Stone & Mrs Claus!Mrs Claus podcast show visits Karen Stone Certified Life, Career & Business Coach Author, Speaker & Trainer! An expert at inspiring & guiding you to live your life fully, uncover your magnificence & reach for your dreams! Discover how to look at times of change & uncertaint …
I'm sorry to be the one to break the news to everyone....(smiling) Christmas is not that far away, I started planning gifts for the hard to buy for, like my mother and father inlaw.
Family Christmas photo turns up in Czech adWhen Danielle Smith and her family posed for their Christmas card photo last year, they never expected it to show up in the Czech Republic, splashed across a huge storefront advertisement.
Sarah Palin Unveils 2008 Christmas CardANCHORAGE, Alaska (CAP) - In an extreme version of turning lemons into lemonade, Alaska Gov.Sarah Palin is taking a photo "oops" and turning it into a defining moment that may very well signal the first shot to be fired in the 2012 election. Oh Sarah....Say it ain't so!
Teen sentenced to spend 10 Christmases in jailAn Osseo teen will spend the next 10 Christmases in jail as part of his sentence in a drunken driving crash that killed two friends.
Charity's problems revealed Feed the Children records show case of embezzlement and major warehouse theft.Yet another charity having funds that the people of America and the world donate to help feed starving, hungry and needy children all over the world! What is sad that most people who are STEALING from charities usually STEAL from a CHILDREN'S charity!
Reid pushes bill to make renewable energy 'top national priority'In the spirit of Obama, let us think beyond ourselves. For our community, country and climate: Now is the time to drive less. Be a Patriot - put away the car keys! Please answer these questions below, thanks!
Born with spina bifida, today she's off to collegeThree years ago, Katelyn Wilbanks received a full scholarship to the University of Oklahoma. On Friday, "Christmas in July" arrived again for the plucky survivor of 56 surgeries when she got to meet her musical idols, Rascal Flatts.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid And Center For American Progress Action Fund �National Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy�JOIN US: NEW ENERGY SUMMIT GROUP: Joins Together Historic Group of Leaders to Tackle National Energy Policy:
Invesco PowerShares Announces T. Boone Pickens Live Webcast: Energy Solutions for the 21st Century'New Energy Summit' on PickensPlan! JOIN US: NEW ENERGY SUMMIT GROUP: Joins Together Historic Group of Leaders to Tackle National Energy Policy:
National Clean Energy Project: Building The New Economy Webcast Information 'New Energy Summit' on PickensPlan! JOIN US: NEW ENERGY SUMMIT GROUP: Joins Together Historic Group of Leaders to Tackle National Energy Policy:
�National Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy� To Host Teleconference on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 to Discuss the Summit Agenda and GoalsEvent Description: NATIONAL CLEAN ENERGY PROJECT: BUILDING THE NEW ECONOMY WEBCAST INFORMATION Time: February 23, 2009 from 10:15am to 2pm Location: Washington, DC
Australian Father Finds Porno Images On Christmas Gift Cell Phone For DaughterA father claims his complaints have been ignored after porn images were found on the mobile phone he gave his 14-year-old daughter for Christmas.
Ind. man shaves shaggy eyebrows for charityA 72-year-old man with eyebrows so long he brushed them each morning raised $1,600 for charity from people who paid to take turns trimming his out-of-control brows.
Ind. man shaves shaggy eyebrows for charityA 72-year-old man with eyebrows so long he brushed them each morning raised $1,600 for charity from people who paid to take turns trimming his out-of-control brows.
Tis the season ad the perfect time considering all craziness in the world of late to share a laugh! DIARY OF THIS WINTER!!!!!!!!!
This was sent to me from my mom and dad............I had to share..... December 8
A triple-dog dare: Boy's tongue stuck on poleIn a scene straight out of the movie "A Christmas Story," a 10-year-old boy got his tongue stuck to a metal light pole.
A triple-dog dare: Boy's tongue stuck on poleIn a scene straight out of the movie "A Christmas Story," a 10-year-old boy got his tongue stuck to a metal light pole.
He must have been triple-dog daredHAMMOND | A North Hammond boy learned a valuable lesson about tongues and freezing metal Tuesday night. Police were called to the 3900 block of Hohman Avenue shortly after 8:30 p.m. and found the 10-year-old with his tongue stuck to a streetlight pole.
Coroner IDs last of Santa-suit killer's victimsThe last two of nine victims from a Christmas Eve massacre have been identified, officials said Wednesday.
Octogenarians tie the knot at senior centerIt's never too late for love! Dorothy Taylor, 84, and Duane Williams, 82 - who have been friends and bridge partners for about a year - were married after what family members describe as a "whirlwind" courtship.
Best-selling 'God' author faces plagiarism claimNeale Donald Walsch, best-selling author of "Conversations with God," said that he unwittingly passed off another writer's Christmas anecdote as his own in a recent blog post.
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