VENTURE CAPITAL POST

With shallow pockets but a deep commitment to promote "living wages", women's advocacy group UltraViolet has peppered Target Corp (TGT.N) with cheap location-focused online ads, challenging it to match Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N) promise of $10-an-hour base pay.

Target Corp was scrambling for ways to fix its failing Canadian expansion and considering closing just the weakest locations, but a pre-holiday visit to several stores by CEO Brian Cornell helped seal the decision for a full retreat.

U.S. retail store sales fell 8 percent during the 2014 holiday season despite a late shopping surge, but overall holiday sales should show a 3.5 to 4 percent rise from a year ago because of stronger online buying, analytics company Retail Next said on Wednesday.

For top U.S. retailers, free delivery is now the norm. That is good news for shoppers, but not so much for investors. During the just-ended holiday season, outlets from Target to Wal-Mart to Amazon

Despite a disappointing Thanksgiving weekend, U.S. holiday sales may squeak by expectations if steeper and longer-running discounts lure enough shoppers.

If you still have Disney's Frozen Castle and Ice Palace Playset on your holiday gift list this year, you may already be out of luck. With Christmas approaching, the $119 toy - made by Mattel Inc - is sold out. Of course, you can find it at resellers for about $225 and even as high as $700 on eBay.

A German entrepreneur has invented an in-home machine that quickly turns raw beans into a freshly brewed cup of coffee, racking up 5,000 pre-orders as consumers search for the perfect brew and retailers hunt for new ways tap the coffee market.

U.S. online sales grew a smaller than expected 8 percent on Cyber Monday after web promotions before and during the Thanksgiving weekend robbed business from what has traditionally been the busiest day of the year for Internet shopping.

Early holiday promotions and rising online shopping took a toll on in-store U.S. sales during the Thanksgiving weekend as shoppers on average spent 6.4 percent less than they did a year earlier, according to data released Sunday by an industry group.

Target Corp (TGT.N) on Wednesday reported its first increase in U.S. same-store sales in four quarters and a quarterly profit above expectations, but said it would review the future of its loss-making Canadian business after the holiday season.

Dollar General Corp (DG.N) extended its tender offer for shares of Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO.N) to Dec. 31, until after a shareholder vote that will decide the fate of a rival bid by Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR.O).

Target has invested $100 million to secure its credit and debit card payment facility and changing the magnetic stripes feature to chip-and-PIN terminals after 40 million cards were hacked.

Chicago-based Trustwave Holdings Inc denied allegations on the lawsuit filed by two lenders that it managed Target's data security and processed the data of its cardholders, Reuters reported.

Hackers responsible for the data breach on Target stores over the holiday season gained access using log-on credentials for heating, refrigeration, and air conditioning, according to a post on Krebs on Security written by former Washington Post reporter Brian Krebs.

The US Secret Service confirmed that it is investigating a potential data security attack at Texas-based arts and crafts retail chain Michaels Stores, which alerted its customers to check credit account statements for fraudulent charges.