Page 3 - Retail Front News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Ready to fork over that extra $50 to get the sweater that i want to complement the amount on the gift card. >> come to think of it, i think i had a pretty good gift card sitting in my wallet that you're reminding me of. >> reporter: see. >> what kind of cards are among the most popular this year? >> reporter: times evare still little tough with the economy. a lot of gift cards that are the most popular are the ones that offer a lot of utilities, like the amazons where you can buy almost anything, the walmarts, home depots, even restaurant cards. a lot of those cards have been very popular this...

But some of the analysts i talked to think that if gas prices come down, as they could, given the fact oil prices are down, and -- if they go down to $3.50 or lower, growth will continue to pick up and we already have seen signs that things are pretty good on the retail front, sales were up 8.9% led by apparel discount chains. some of the big department stores. luxury onevery well as well. >> what about when you have sharp sell-off and commodities, what does that mean for consumers? does that bring down gas prices, too? >> the gas prices don't come down as quickly as they go up, unfortunately....

1983 in this country. but on the retail front, dollar stores are booming. jonathan serrie goes on the job hunt live in atlanta. jonathan? >> reporter: hi, jon. well the uncertainty economy has certainly made consumers more value conscious. it also created demand for new jobs. well these dollar stores seem to be satisfying both. >> hello. we're from the family dollar. >> reporter: discount retailer family dollar and its rival, dollar general plan to open 900 new stores and create more than 9,000 new jobs this year. >> the pace of new store openings is ramping up. we have more aggressive goals i...

On wall street, we are expecting a flat open. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. stocks were higher this morning. what's happening? >> we did get some upbeat reports on the economy. the thing is that they weren't blockbuster figures. that's why we are seeing futures right now flat before the open. pretty good news on the job fronts. 382,000 people signed up for those new unemployment benefits but the fact is down by 10,000. we are moving in the right direction. a generally upbeat report on retail sales, from the limited posting a double digit gain in march. other winners on the retai...

Stuff in the northeast, flight delays and cancellations are easing around new york city. officials now saying it could still take some passengers days to reach their final destinations. what a nightmare for them. on the retail front, a company that tracks more than 70,000 stores and malls reporting the blizzard may have stopped shoppers from spending an estimated $1 billion. but when your street looks like this one in new york city, it's not easy to get out and shop. let alone do anything. >> if they had plowed the street once, just once, we would be able to do the rest and get our cars out, b...