holidays

Chocolate and flower shops busy for Valentine’s Day

Procrastinating romantics were out in full force Saturday, using the final day before Valentine's Day to pick out the perfect gifts to please their sweethearts."Valentine's Day is a last-minute holiday," said Gayle Harte, owner of... more »

Snow cools Valentine passion

Salisbury -- Love. Say it with flowers, chocolates, wine, and, in a trend of achy backs from snow shoveling, a massage. But say it, with Valentine's Day gifts from area shops that specialize in tokens... more »

Floral industry sees boost on Valentine’s Day

Love is in the air this Valentine's Day. And some Michiana retailers are cashing in on romance. Despite the economy, showing your sweetheart you care is still a top priority."It's not last minute; I got... more »

Valentine’s a sweet time for shops

Vienna - With Valentine's Day approaching, area chocolate shops and florists experienced a jump in sales the past week.Holl's Chocolates prepared thousands of online orders to be shipped this week and sold hundreds more at... more »

How did local shops fare during the holidays?

Nationally, the holiday shopping season was a lot better in 2009 than the previous year. According to Reuters, "SpendingPulse, a unit of MasterCard Advisors, showed retail sales rose 3.6 percent in the period from Nov.... more »

Santa delivers for U.S. retailers

New York -- Inventory control, coupled with last-minute shopping and post-holiday bargain hunting, drove U.S. retailers' best monthly sales in more than 20 months, results showed Thursday, and several -- from discounter Target Corp. to... more »

Retailers’ pockets jingling after spirited holiday shopping season

Despite the struggling economy, SouthCoast retailers enjoyed a gift from consumers this season with relatively strong sales. While retail chains have not yet released their end-of-the-year numbers, local stores saw steady business in the days... more »

This holiday season, Web sales are retailers’ biggest gift

Consumers spent a little more than anticipated during the holiday season, according to a report out on Monday, and a significant e-tail threshold may have been crossed on Christmas Day at Amazon, the online bookseller.For... more »