While the gay and lesbian market has long been on Macy’s radar, the retailer is cranking up the volume on its efforts, scheduling in-store events, parade sponsorships and celebrations nationwide to celebrate Pride Month.

As they decide how to stock their shelves later this year, America’s shopkeepers are debating whether the recent rise in consumer spending will last.

Discount retailers, including Nordstrom Rack, Wal-Mart, Forman Mills, AJ Wright and Hobby Lobby, are moving more aggressively into the Washington region, leasing space vacated by Circuit City and other stores that went out of business, according to real estate research firm Delta Associates.

The former casual Friday staple was overtaken in recent years by denim. But the beige twill is finding its way into sportswear collections and high-fashion designs and appears poised for a comeback.

Men’s clothier Jos. A. Bank said Thursday that it will expand its line for portly and tall men and roll out to all of its stores a pilot tuxedo rental program it started last year.

Twitter is getting an affectionate embrace from fashion. Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa tweeted pictures of models being fitted backstage before his latest fashion show. The late Alexander McQueen sent his final inspirations into the Tweetosphere. Hot new arrival Prabal Gurung tweets about his gym workouts.

In a world consumed with technology, where Twitter and Facebook are the new “hot spot” for social interactions, where–or rather how–does the department store fit in?

Urban Outfitters Inc, owner of brands including Anthropologie, has announced a new bridal label amid a growing wedding trend in ready-to-wear.

It’s already time for the prom at Men’s Wearhouse, and the formal wear brand is going to the dance with social media for the second straight year.

J.C. Penney Co. knows it scores with consumers on quality and price. Now it wants credit for style with a new tagline that pokes fun at itself: “New look. New day. Who knew?”

Adidas and the National Basketball Association are hitting the malls. Adidas, which is the league’s official uniform provider, has inked a deal with the NBA and mall-based retailer Champs Sports for an “Official NBA Shop at Champs Sports.” The NBA Shop will debut in 69 Champs Sports stores this month and will be in the remaining 486 Champs Sports stores nationwide by the start of the 2010-11 NBA season, per the companies.

The spring campaign for Candie’s featuring singer Britney Spears was shot by three famous photographers, including Annie Leibovitz.

Hoping to bolster flagging sales, Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. has teamed up with another local toymaker: Cepia LLC of Clayton, which sells Zhu Zhu Pets, the robotic hamsters that became a sensation last holiday season.

This just might be the boldest fashion statement at the shows so far—letting shoppers actually buy the clothes.

Walgreen Co., the biggest U.S. drugstore chain, agreed to buy Duane Reade Holdings Inc. from affiliates of Oak Hill Capital Partners for $1.08 billion, including debt, to expand in metropolitan New York.

Reality show stars Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian can now sell the clothes right off their backs to their fans.

As more retailers look to develop effective social-media strategies, a new study finds that Facebook is by far the most effective way to woo would-be shoppers.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is cutting prices on high-definition TVs ahead of the U.S. Super Bowl championship game, looking to entice shoppers to spend now that the holiday season has ended.

Even as the fashion press gears up for an orgy of trend-spotting at New York fashion week, which starts Feb. 11, many observers feel Mr. Wolfe is right: We’ve reached the end of the trend as the guiding stricture in fashion. The “must-have” currently being attached to certain styles—The trench coat! The one-shoulder dress! Metallics!—is little more than a marketing pitch.

You might notice that department stores, restaurants and grocery stores are beefing up what looks like a store within a store: Peet’s Coffee & Tea inside some Raley’s grocery stores; Sephora makeup stores inside JCPenney stores; and coming soon, Sunglass Hut stores in Macy’s. The collaborations will continue to multiply rapidly, retail analysts say.