TAMPA -- If you're moving slowly on your shopping this holiday season, you're not alone. Most people are less than half-finished, a new survey says. ...more

December 16, 2008

Instead of braving crowded malls or hoping their online orders arrive in time, many people did their holiday shopping Saturday in support of an area radio station. ...more

December 14, 2008

I am writing this letter in hopes that it will remind people of what Christmas really is about and make them realize how much we as people have commercialized Christmas. ...more

December 10, 2008

The country's economic picture darkened further as Americans hunkered down heading into the holidays, forcing retailers to ring up fewer sales and factories to cut back on production. ...more

December 4, 2008

If you just re-discovered the gift card in your wallet — lodged in between the movie stubs and tattered coupon — you're not alone. ...more

November 29, 2008

Shoppers are expected to turn out in droves to take advantage of rock-bottom bargains. ...more

November 28, 2008

Florida's consumer services chief is counseling shoppers to keep cool heads in the maelstrom of holiday discounting. ...more

November 27, 2008

To head off holiday thieves, Tampa police will patrol shopping malls between now and Christmas on horseback, on motorcycles and in unmarked cars. Officers will begin these special patrols this morning at WestShore Plaza. The extra police presence aims to prevent car burglaries and other property crimes. ...more

November 26, 2008

Given the economic problems dominating the headlines these days, it would not be surprising if people are feeling glum. Housing sales continue to fall, thwarting hopes for a turnaround for a key component of the local, state and national economies. The "Big Three" U.S. automakers are jetting, hats in hand, to Congress and asking for money to help them stave off bankruptcy. Banks and other financial institutions need help from the Treasury clearing bad loans and other dubious investments from their books. With all this and more going on, retailers are worrying that the black in the traditional post-Thanksgiving Black Friday start to the holiday shopping season will refer to more than just the mood of shoppers battling large crowds and overflowing parking lots. ...more

November 26, 2008

Given the economic problems dominating the headlines these days, it would not be surprising if people are feeling glum. At such moments of seeming gloom we should recall that the first Thanksgiving was held during the Civil War. ...more

November 26, 2008