Retail Sales

On a recent evening, only one customer lingered in a local Best Buy's cushy Magnolia showroom, where the chain store shows off its high-end, state-of-the-art televisions. He was sitting on a leather sofa, fast asleep. In these tough times, shopping for a TV has become less about state of the art and more about state of the economy. Luckily, it's a good time to snag a bargain, experts say. This is a time of year when TV prices traditionally stabilize.

First-week sales of U2's "No Line on the Horizon" brought the superstar rock band back down to Earth. The album, given the band's stature and sales history, was essentially preordained to debut atop the U.S. pop charts. The only question was how many it would sell. The Interscope album sold a brisk 484,000 copies in the U.S., according to data from Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks album sales.

For years, retailers could afford to be sloppy about running their businesses because customers kept buying. No more. Stung by the worry that shoppers -- who cut spending by the most dramatic amount in at least 39 years this holiday season -- may not start spending again for a long time, stores are making drastic changes.

Even as Culver City's downtown has evolved into a vibrant hangout with bustling theaters and restaurants, the commercial district in the town's southern Fox Hills area has remained a gritty mix of offices, mini-malls, tire outlets, pizza joints and an occasional erotica shop, all in the shadow of a tangle of freeways. A $180-million overhaul of Fox Hills Mall -- now rebranded as Westfield Culver City -- promises a more up-market ambience. Residents report feeling a burst of retail pride in the now-gleaming center, and city officials are enthused about the prospect of additional retail revenue amid challenging times.

Looming over the 405 Freeway near Culver City, a 50-foot-tall electronic sign for Airport Marina Ford has flashed "buy now" in bright red letters for the last month, a reminder to passing motorists to beat the April 1 sales tax increase. "The clock is ticking," said Dan Theroux, general manager of the car dealership. "If you're buying a new car, it's going to save you hundreds of dollars to buy before the end of the month."

The recession is hammering the video game industry. Marking the sector's fourth consecutive monthly decline, sales of video games and consoles in the U.S. fell 31% last month to $1.2 billion, down from $1.7 billion in June 2008, according to a report released Thursday from market research firm NPD Group Inc. It was the largest monthly decline since September 2000, when industry sales slumped 41%, said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

U.S. retail sales excluding cars were surprisingly strong in April, showing that consumers were still willing to add spending punch to the economy despite soaring food and energy prices, a government report showed Tuesday. The report echoed recent data that implied underlying economic durability, including fewer job losses in April than had been feared and a surprisingly strong pace of first-quarter productivity that buoyed hope for corporate profits. The Commerce Department said retail sales declined 0.2% but excluding cars, sales rose 0.5%.

Crocs were born of the economic boom. The colorful foam clogs appeared in 2002, just as the country was recovering from a recession. Brash and bright, they were a cheap investment (about $30) that felt good and promised to last forever. Former President George W. Bush wore them. Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler wore them. Your grandma wore them. They were mocked by the fashion world, but 100 million pairs were sold in seven years.

MGA Entertainment Inc.'s Bratz dolls, which were found to infringe Mattel Inc.'s copyrights, can be sold this year, a federal judge ruled, modifying a decision that could have resulted in an earlier ban. U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson in Riverside ruled Wednesday that retailers would be allowed to buy the spring and fall lines of the pouty, multiethnic dolls from MGA until Dec. 31, or from either Mattel or a court-appointed receiver if he awards them rights to the infringing Bratz products.

A thirst among shoppers for stylish cellphones that can do more than make calls and take grainy snapshots has helped Apple Inc. ring up sales of more than 1 million units of its high-end iPhone 3G S just three days after the device went on sale, the company reported Monday. "Even with a down economy, food, shelter, clothing and now smart phones are becoming an essential part of people's lives," quipped Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner Inc.