RETAIL/CONSUMER

J Sainsbury, the retailing and financial services and property investment group, expects customers to spend cautiously in 2012, particularly in first half of the year. Although the short term remains challenging, key events later in the year, such as the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games provide opportunities for growth.

Debenhams, the seller of fashion clothing, accessories, cosmetics and products, expects to benefit from lower input prices in the H2 of FY 2012. Britain's No. 2 department store group is scheduled to release its H1 trading update on Tuesday.

Ben & Jerry's Supports Gay Marriage in Britain

Nike slammed for insensitive marketing of shoe nicknamed after notorious anti-Irish Catholic paramilitary group.

Apple is set to open a new retail store in Harrods to coincide with the launch of the new iPad, tomorrow.

With online pre-orders sold out, the only option is to get up early and queue, but where is best?

Game Group has been given a potential lifeline as administration looms.

Britain's household goods retailer, Home Retail Group, focuses on robust cost management along with cash positions due to ongoing uncertainty surrounding the UK economy. It will also prioritise its investment in the ongoing development of its multi-channel capabilities.

Game Group just two weeks from administration as stock problems continue

Morrisons Supermarkets, the food retailer, has reported that its turnover rose 7 per cent to £17.7 billion for the year ended 29 January, 2012. Profit before tax was at £947 million compared to £874 million in the previous year and raised its total dividend by 11 per cent to 10.7 pence.

Sales up to £8.7bn but profits down for retail chain, full-year results for 2011 reveal.

Wm Morrison Supermarkets, a food retailer grocer, expects the consumer environment in the UK during 2012 to be cautious despite an anticipated reduction in inflationary pressures. It is expected to release its preliminary results for the year 2011 on March 8, 2012.

The new employees will work on fresh produce, meat and bakery counters in stores.

The profit was driven by considerable increases in e-book sales at Penguin and the Financial Times Group, both of which are owned by Pearson.

The builder of traditional homes reported that its annual pre-tax profits rose 74% for the financial year ended 31 December 2011, as it sold more homes at a wider margins and focuses on increasing profits combined with further improvements in the use of capital. The Group also expects to deliver a strongly increasing return on capital employed in 2012 and beyond.

Sony, the Tokyo-based electronics giant, will be excited by the hype that has surrounded the launch of the eagerly anticipated PlayStation Vita. The handheld gaming console was launched on Feb. 22, in Europe, Africa, the U.S., Australasia and the Middle East.

South Korean electronics giant Samsung, in a statement on Monday, said it would spin-off its unprofitable Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) business into a separate company.

British sports and luxury automobile manufacturer Jaguar has introduced a special edition of XK model.

Google and Stanford University have confirmed they are one of the first recipients of the 2013 Fit EV battery-electric vehicles from Honda. The vehicles have been given as part of the Honda Electric Vehicle Demonstration Program.

In separate reports released on Feb. 15, both Airbus and Boeing have agreed that there is tremendous potential for growth of the aviation industry in the Asia-Pacific region.

The winners of the 12th annual Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards were announced on Saturday, at the Toy Industry Hall of Fame Induction ceremony at the Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Centre, New York.

The restructuring was announced despite the soft drink maker posting a 4 percent increase in its net income for the fourth quarter ending December 31.

Cromwell Crown Hotel calls TripAdvisor valuable resource after watchdog accuses site of misleading consumers.

Supermarket giant changes name of popular loaf in response to letter from little girl.

The contents of an e-mail, sent by the late founder of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs, to former Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Eric Schmidt, were disclosed on Friday, during the course of a civil suit against the former company.

Despite trialling selling beer and wine in some US stores, there are no plans to do the same in the UK.

The fast-food chain McDonald's will hire 2,500 people in the UK increasing its workforce to 90,000 this year.

Google has changed how it scans web pages and has provided advice to help Wikipedia, Reddit and others remain high in search results while they black out to protest SOPA and PIPA.

Incidents of violence against retail staff soar by staggering 83 percent in 2011.