STAMFORD - Early reports from the city's mall suggest mixed sales and slightly increased car traffic during the Black Friday shopping weekend. "It was a mixed bag," Stamford Town Center Marketing Director Jim Zielinski said Monday.

Retailers who saw Thanksgiving holiday sales taper off as the weekend progressed fought back, stepping up online promotions on the day known as "Cyber Monday" to get consumers to keep shopping.

Retailers call the Monday after Thanksgiving 'Cyber Monday,' the online equivalent of Black Friday's shopping boom. Sales so far from this year's shopping season is pretty healthy; nationwide, more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites over the four-day weekend. That's up from 147 million last year, with shoppers spending an average of $372.57 each. Jeffrey LaMonde | Times ...

More sales numbers are coming in from the first big shopping weekend of the holiday season and they show modest gains over last year. Retailers are hoping for a boost from "Cyber Monday" online sales. ShopperTrak says sales rose 3 percent to $10.6 billion on Friday from the Black Friday a year ago, but slipped 0.8 percent to $6 billion on Saturday.

WASHINGTON -- After a slow start to the online holiday shopping season last week, Web retailers got their groove back Monday and broke some records.

Businesses will provide a "Christmas in the Country" road trip from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday to encourage shopping in local stores.

Holiday shopping has begun and everyone is out looking for a steal. And that includes criminals.

Robots designed to work as shopping assistants have been unveiled in a shopping centre in Japan.

More stores are staying open 24 hours this holiday shopping season amid a softening economy, stiff competition and increasingly time-pressed consumers.

TEMPLETON - Area businesses will provide a "Christmas in the Country" road trip from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday to encourage shopping in local stores amid the warmth of friendly country folks.