From The Contra Costa Times Antioch mall gets boost from sale The Gottschalks store in the East Bay that closed after the retailer’s bankruptcy may soon have a new retailer now that a developer has agreed to buy the empty building. The retailer’s anchor store at Somersville Towne Center in Antioch is being bought by [...]

The New York Times reports Not Looking Good So Far for Back-to-School Sales …Over all, the industry turned in a 2.9 percent sales decline compared with a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters, making August the 12th consecutive month of negative growth. The August decline comes after a 5 percent drop in July. Chains offering [...]

Calculated Risk puts together a monthy summary of economic activity with a series of nice graphs. Each graph goes back far enough to put current ups and downs in their proper perspective. Here is a graph showing August’s new home sales. There are about a dozen graphs. Other topics include Architectural Billings, Housing Starts, Port [...]

The New York Times reports Better News, but Retail Prospects Are Still Dim …the nation’s stores will soon be comparing their weak monthly sales figures with the even worse numbers they began posting last September, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and consumers subsequently snapped their wallets shut. Retailing analysts liken that period to the beginning of [...]