GM asks CEO Fritz Henderson to resign. [NY Times]

AIG awards the Federal Reserve a $25 billion stake in two companies in leiu of loan payments. [NY Times]

Ford strives to make the Focus a "global car." [WSJ]

JC Penney signs a deal with Europe's hot retailer Mango. [MediaPost]

To Bank of America's dismay, two top candidates for CEO have suggested breaking up the company. [WSJ]

Saab to shut down. Saab to sell. Saab to splinter. Now: In the new year, we'll decide on something. [FT]

Northrop threatens to withdraw a bid before the Pentagon over competition with Boeing. [NY Times]

Christian Lacroix will, in fact, shut down. [Times of London]

(More headlines: Microsoft store, Bebida rebrands as BeBevCo.)Continue reading...

It's make-or-break time for many brands, especially retail ones. Wal-Mart and Amazon have started World War III, and Best Buy needs good numbers. Also, everyone from JC Penney to Sears to Radio Shack to Kohl's needs consumers to loosen the purse strings. A retail brand with nothing to worry about this year? Circuit City.

So, how bad could it be? Check out Gizmodo's Black Friday disaster photoshop contest. Or, you know, for less photoshopped, more "real" disaster potential, check out the stock performance of retailers before the market closes, maybe mercifully, at noon. Target, Sears, Tiffany & Co., J Crew, and Best Buy were all gainers on Wednesday's close but, thanks to the Dubai mess, every stock is down this morning.

Anyway, let's see how it's going so far...

In California, some Best Buys are reporting over 1,000 people lined up for 5:00 am openings. And flatscreen TVs. That's the story so far. People are really after the flatscreen TV deals. One TV deal that nobody will be getting? Sears' a 54-inch 1080p HDTV for $399.99:

"WHOOPS! The email we sent you Monday had the wrong TV offer in it! We are not offering a Panasonic 54" class 1080p 600Hz plasma HDTV for $399.99. We apologize for this mistake and assure you that we are taking every step to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Business Insider has an outstanding round-up of Tweets from this morning's Black Friday openings (warning: a couple feature harsh language). The site also has an early morning collection of reports from the front lines:

"Aurora, Illinois: 'Black Friday shoppers got an early start this year, causing a 2-mile traffic back-up near Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora...Starting about 11 p.m. Thursday, cars began lining up to get into the mall, according to Illinois State Police...The mall opened at midnight, and the heavy traffic remained for several hours, State Police said.'"

Elsewhere, it appears shoppers are not dissuaded and are doing the rounds:

"The friends said they had been shopping all night, starting at Toys "R" Us, which opened at midnight. They said they arrived there at 11 p.m., but didn’t get in until 12:30 a.m. After that, they stopped at Wal-Mart, which was open all night but had special sales starting at 5 a.m. Even after the full night of shopping, Woodring and Metcalfe said they hadn’t quite checked everyone off their gift-buying lists.

'We’re getting there,' Woodring said."

And those Zhu Zhu hamsters? They just might save Toys "R" Us's bacon. Good grief:

"Zhu Zhu fanatics were so numerous on Thanksgiving night, that they were given their own line in front of the flagship Toys R Us store in New York's Times Square. Hundreds of shoppers queued for hours ahead of the midnight opening, specifically so they could get their hands on the robotic rodents."

But for those shoppers who are getting late starts, the best deals are already gone, including those Zhu Zhu hamsters. Target's Leap Frog Fridge Magnets are gone. Wal-Mart's $98 Nintendo DS Lite is sold out. It's 50-inch TV and Rock Star game deals? Ditto. But Wal-Mart clerks in Georgia said "$2 bath towels, kitchen items and children's toys were also selling well."

So where might late-rising (hungover?) shoppers want to turn now? Amazon.com:

With an estimate of 5% more shoppers participating this year over last, most early estimates are for a better retail season. Early reports from Grapevine Mills in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas indicate stores are already seeing double-digit increase in sales over last year's Black Friday. If that holds even partly true for many other retailers and brands, this could be a very happy holiday indeed.

This will especially be the case if a successful Black Holiday manages to "brand" the retail season. That is to say, if consumers hear positive reports about other consumers being very confident this season, about how the worst is all behind them, about how the deals are too good to pass up, they might be more likely to have a positive outlook themselves. Like any strong brand, it's infectious.

For all Black Friday Live! posts go to the Black Friday Live! tag.

Retailer JCPenney has been as reliable a barometer of US economic swings as any, according to Financial Times. Penney's store sales have tracked almost precisely with economic ups and downs. Penney's sales dropped in the summer of 2007 during a retail slowdown, and again sagged in September and October 2008 after the Wall Street meltdown.

Now Penney is hoping the holiday season will put an end to economic doldrums in the U.S. and is readying a different strategy from last year, when it aggressively discounted its merchandise to move inventory. This holiday season, Penney will offer promotions, but will try to be more selective.Continue reading...

UK retail growth rate at post-recession high. [Telegraph]

Old Navy begins to rebound, lifting Gap Inc. shares. [WSJ]

Seeing shift to web, JC Penney will cease producing catalogs. [WSJ]

Limited Brands' Q3 boost is due to cost-cutting. [WaPo]

Luxury stores cut back on stock, sales. [NY Times]

Ford expects consumers to demand smaller cars. [NY Times]

AOL to cut workforce by one-third after spinoff from Time Warner. [WSJ]

Burberry teams up with Genesis Color to move into India's market. [Economic Times]

(More headlines: Guinness, Urban Outfitters, McDonald's redesign.)Continue reading...

Goldman Sachs apologizes for mistakes, announces $500 million to aid small businesses. [NY Times]

JC Penney serves as an indicator of economy's health. [FT]

Hershey and Ferrero may counter Kraft's bid for Cadbury. [NY Times]

EU approves Lloyds restructuring program. [NY Times]

Coke will debut uniform global packaging for juice brands. [FT]

How price dispute led Costco to drop all Coca-Cola products. [WaPo]

Fewer 2010 car models pass safety tests. [WSJ]

(More headlines: Home Depot, Sy Syms, Sony.)Continue reading...

Joy to the ads, the recession is still here!

As employment reaches 10% and the holiday season approaches, retailers fear sales will flatline, or at worst, decline. Despite an uptick in October retail figures, analysts continue to predict consumer hesitation this holiday season.

Retailers are fighting back, bringing a message of holiday cheer and joy to the masses. Among the glut of retailers jumping on the trend of “joywashing” (the use of positive imagery, mantras and images in branding and advertising) are struggling Gap, JC Penney, Wal-Mart and Macy’s, all debuting holiday ad campaigns this month, brimming with glee.

In their first holiday television campaign since 2006, Gap captures the pop culture zeitgeist. Plaid clad performers take the screen, dancing and cheering the return of the holidays. The commercial capitalizes on the success of the FOX television show “Glee,” which features performances by a fictional high school glee club and cheer team.

The Gap campaign is a distinct effort by the retailer to counter the effects of the recession. According to executive vice president of marketing, Ivy Ross, Gap developed the campaign concept to be “optimistic and bold,” countering the idea that “you can’t be happy this year because we’re going through a crisis.” What better way to “liberate the consumer” than with actual cheerleaders?Continue reading...

We all walk in them, so it should come as no surprise that even in a recession, people are continuing to splurge on shoes. Price and quality, however, are still kept in mind, and searching for a bargain is still a priority. As The New York Times reported:

Jamie Boucher, a lawyer in Washington, snapped up a pair of Christian Louboutin heels recently for 70 percent off at a local Saks store. “I think about value much more than perhaps I did before,” said Ms. Boucher. “But you’ve still got to have your shoes.”Continue reading...

To raise cash and pay down debt, Motorola looks to split into three companies. [NY Times]

Hewlett-Packard acquires computer network provider 3Com. [NY Times]

Ford's European auto sales rise 13% in October, a 12-year high. [WSJ

Marks & Spencer considers expanding across Europe once again. [Times of London]

Best Buy promises an "aggressive" rollout across Europe. [FT]

Combative host Lou Dobbs resigns from CNN. [NY Times]

Europe's big four supermarkets predict a "feisty" holiday season. [FT]

Disney streamlines marketing, sells films simultaneously across multiple platforms. [WSJ]

(More headlines: Gap, JC Penney, Target, Nikon campaigns.)Continue reading...