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.

Tory Burch and Steve Sadove, Chairman and CEO of Saks, spoke on the challenges that have faced luxury retailers during the past year and opportunities for growth in the future at Retail’s BIG show. Read their tips here.

JoS. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. announced that the company will be expanding into the tuxedo rental business.

Yesterday is gone. 2010 is the time to start anew. It’s true that many of my clients and colleagues are tightening their belts now through the first quarter of 2010, but it’s not due to fear carried over from 2009. Instead, many of them are streamlining processes and making divisions more efficient in preparation of new growth during the second half of 2010.

But the Plano, Texas-based retailer isn’t giving up on getting inside customers’ homes. Penney has 636,505 Facebook fans and 3,205 followers on Twitter. As many large retailers do, Penney mostly sticks to business with posts about free shipping or sales. Wal-Mart counts 270,680 Facebook followers, hundreds who vote — literally up or down with small thumb icons — on daily posts.

Trying to snag last minute shoppers ahead of Christmas, Macy’s is going round-the-clock at Tysons Corner Center.

Under Armour is popping up in New York City. The Baltimore-based performance apparel and footwear company opened its first-ever Pop-Up store on Dec. 5, in time for the holidays, and to preview the Winter Olympics.

Hip new Web sites and blogs are cropping up all the time with links and news about cute, chic clothes.

Retailers get as much as they can into - and out of - the totes they give to customers. The bags are stuffed with brand messaging, designed to remind shoppers to visit a particular shop and pique their curiosity about what might be inside.

Online sales in the U.S. rose 16 percent today from a year ago as consumers hunted for bargains on Cyber Monday, according to online marketing firm Coremetrics.