• Supermarket bag use cut nears 50% target: Reusable bags become increasingly viable. (BBC, UK)
• Debt Forces Oriental Trading Into Chapter 11: A major supplier of mall promotional items for Simon and other centers enters bankruptcy protection. (Multichannel Merchant, US)
• Aussies spending $1bn for Dads’ Day: Australian shoppers go all out for Dad. (Inside Retailing, AU)
• Firms are profiting from group think: Group coupon sites like Groupon are paying off for businesses great and small. (Crain’s New York Business, US)
• Retail’s fresh start: Whether we blame good weather or nervous shoppers, back-to-school hasn’t been great this year. (Market Watch, US)
• Blockbuster appears poised for mid-September bankruptcy filing: There doesn’t seem to be any other way out for the beleaguered video retailer. (Dallas News, US)
• The Brazilians are coming — to a store near you: Brazilian shoppers are fueling retail growth throughout Latin America. (Reuters, US)
• Survey shows consumer resilience as UK retail sales volumes rise again: Retail sales in the UK have hit a three year high. (The Herald, UK)
• How Snooki Got Her Gucci: The Dirt on Purses: Sneaky marketing 101 (The New York Observer, US)
• Simon Property Completes Mall Acquisition: Simon has purchased 21 malls from Prime Outlets Acquisitions. (The Street, US)
• In recession, Goodwill becomes a force on the retail scene: Straddling the line between vintage and thrift, Goodwill expands. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, US)

Image: Christmas @ Eden 2007_S12570, a cc licensed flickr photo shared by Ennor

• Magistrates: Westfield shoplifters should face shopping centre courtroom: Pop-up shops were just the start. Soon, shopping centers may be home to pop-up courts for petty crime. (Fulham Chronicle, UK)
• The Benefits of Scenting Public Places: Scent branding can be controversial, but there are ways to use it that are unequivocally positive. (GOOD, US)
• Groupon Launches National Deal With Gap, Selling 10 Groupons A Second: For the first time, an international retailer offers an international coupon through Groupon. It was a huge success, but what’s the benefit for Gap? (Tech Crunch, US)
• Retailers Are Fighting Back Against CAM Charge Errors: Common area maintenance is a topic retailers are increasingly concerned with. (Retail Traffic, US)
• South African Retail Sales Climb as FIFA World Cup Tourists Fuel Spending: The World Cup did wonders for South African retail (Bloomberg, US)
• ‘Trust’: the new focus: Customers are looking for connections with service brands. (Inside Retailing, AU)
• Facebook Explores ‘Places’: Facebook launches a new mobile check-in service in the US. It’s off to a bad start with privacy critics, but with Facebook’s user base, it could be big. (Brandweek, US)
• NREL, IKEA Team Up to Monitor Geothermal Energy for Commercial Buidings: IKEA’s experiments with geothermal may help future developers with valuable data. (Scientific American, US)
• Big-box competition forces malls to shape up: Advice for shopping centers that are suffering. (Globe and Mail, CA)
• Nordstrom Links Online Inventory to Real World: Retailers find ways to combine online and brick and mortar efforts. (New York Times, US)
• Finding: Affluent Moms Shop Like Everyone Else: Shopping choices for moms are more dictated by children than by wealth. (Media Post, US)

Courtroom One Gavel, a cc licensed flickr photo shared by lambdachialpha

• Free Speech and Malls: As a court rules conversation rules at a Westfield center unconstitutional, the debate about free speech on private property rages. (Retail Traffic, US)
• Pop-up retailing takes a new direction: Imagine a chain retailer entirely devoted to creating pop-up experiences for other brands in its space. It’s happening in Vancouver. (Vancouver Sun, CA)
• American Apparel runs out of cash, Abercrombie to close 110 stores within two years: Not a good week for teen retailers. (The Guardian, UK / ICSC)
• Westfield confirms September 2011 opening for Stratford shopping centre: Looks like they’ll make the Olympic deadline with time to spare. (Property Week, US)
• Extortion claims rejected: Are extended trading hours in Perth leading to shopping center owners extorting retailers? It doesn’t really sound like it, but one MLA believes they are. (WA Today, AU)
• Retailers Moving Christmas A Little Closer: US marketers are planning to push Black Friday and Christmas sooner and for longer. (Marketing Daily, US)
• Panera’s Pay-What-You-Want Restaurant Actually Works: A fascinating new retail concept that may be reaching more markets soon. (GOOD, US)
• Edmonton gets Canada’s first Victoria’s Secret: The lingerie retailer heads north. (Times Colonist, CA)
• Bed, Bath & Bribes: An interesting look at Ikea’s struggles with Russian expansion. (Foreign Policy, US)
• Opry Mills’ return after flood remains mystery: Opry Mills was devastated in Tennessee floods three months ago, and owners aren’t sure how much longer it will be closed for. (Tennessean, US)
• Fathers Day buyers split 4 ways: With Father’s Day coming up on September 5th in Australia, shoppers take different, but identifiable, approaches to shopping for Dad. (Inside Retailing, AU)
• Analysis: Clothing discounts set for snip as costs rise: Clothes makers are no longer able to sustain the deep discounts that have kept them afloat through the worst of the recession and recovery. (Reuters, US)
• J.Crew Takes a Leading Role in Men’s Fashion: The brand fills the gap between intimidating luxury offerings and outdated brands. (Bloomberg Businessweek, US)
• Threadless tests chain store waters: Threadless, a trendy online t-shirt maker, is selling products on Nordstrom racks. Online brands embracing brick and mortar space – this could be big. (Chicago Tribune, US)
• Fire-ravaged shopping centre reopening: Happy news for Central World, the shopping center set on fire by protesters in Bangkok in May. (Inside Retailing, AU)

Image: Freedom & Truth, a cc licensed flickr photo shared by [nati]

• Designer logos are a fashion no-go: In a trend that seems to come around every decade, designers are de-emphasizing their logos once more. Has the recession has caused an upsurge in subtlety? (Telegraph, UK)
• ‘The mall evolves’: Taubman comes back from recession with eye on changing marketplace: A profile of Taubman’s success through the recession. (Crain’s Detroit Business)
• NPD: Consumers spending more, but shopping later for BTS: If you haven’t seen a push of BTS shoppers, you may still have one to look forward to. (Retailing Today, US)
• Independent retailers face challenges that chains don’t: It may serve to help independent retailers lease a location that will work for them. (USA Today, US)
• Jobs Up 45% In The Last 12 Months: The NZ job market is looking good. (Voxy, NZ)
• Rochdale shopping centre abandons ‘Muslim-friendly lavatories’: The story of an abortive attempt at cultural sensitivity. (Telegraph, UK)
• Colony May Lose Xanadu, $2 Billion N.J. Mall With Indoor Skiing: After years of development woes, Xanadu may remain a dream. (Bloomberg, US)
• Mall Networks rebrands, cites growth: The retailer loyalty program provider has taken the name Cartera Commerce. (Mass High Tech, US)
• Shoppers like new Santa Monica mall with ocean view: After a major remodeling project that took the mall from indoors to out, shoppers flock back. (LA Times, US)
• Local malls extend hours for tax holiday: Simon plans for tax holiday extension. (Boston Globe, US)
• Retail rituals have pitfalls if not done well: Rituals (like birthday celebrations) can go a long ways toward making shoppers feel at home, but done wrong, they can be quite offputting. (UPI, US)
• States’ Tax Holidays Are Irresponsible, Critics Say: The discussion on tax holidays continues (NPR, US)
• The Eyes Have It: Sunglass Hut debuts technology that makes sunglasses shopping easier and more social. (NRF Stores Blog, US)
• Why Is David Lynch Pimping This Handbag?: A look at the big budget, big name advertising film. (Slate, US)

Photo: louisvuittoncar, a cc licensed flickr photo shared by LudeMunky

mushrooms & dragonflies, a cc licensed flickr photo shared by love♡janine