Consumers are finally spending more, with September posting the first gain in more than a year. The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) found that retail sales inched 0.1% higher last month. It doesn't seem like much, but a gain when you anticipate a fall is good news magnified. But, it came at the expense of great deals and other tools to entice somewhat hesitant customers into stores.

Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) and Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) reported sales increases in September for stores open more than a year. J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP), Macy's (NYSE: M) and Target (NYSE: TGT) posted declines, but they were better than expected. Delayed school openings thanks to a late Labor Day helped push to September sales that might have occurred in August otherwise.

Of course, all eyes are on the coming holiday season. The National Retail Federation forecasts U.S. consumer spending of $437.6 billion – up only slightly from $433.7 billion four years ago. So, we still have a lot of ground to make up before we can celebrate a recovery. As long as the situation is staying steady, though, we'll at least have a solid starting point.

MasterCard Advisors (NYSE: MA) service SpendingPulse says luxury and electronics sales headed upward last month, in a pleasant deviation from what became the norm all too long ago. A few other product categories posted gains as well – showing stability, if not a recovery. But, at this stage of the game, we'll take what we can get, right?

Luxury sales, not including jewelry, gained 3.4% year-over-year – that's an increase of $891 million. Last September, luxury goods suffered a 9.4% decline. Yet, this category is still below its September 2005 level of $94 million. Jewelry sales gained 1.2% relative to last year, compared to a year-over-year decline of 5.8% a year ago. Compared to apparel sales, this is a profound turn. In September 2008, the clothing category was off 5.7%, and this September, it was down only 2.9%.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) wants to up the game a bit in the second half of 2009 as it seeks to increase its marketing and hopefully prop up sales. One area of focus for its marketing efforts for the remainder of 2009 will be on Target's in-store pharmacies.

Target will increase marketing as a percentage of sales for the last four months of 2009, sating that "For the year, our marketing plan is right on, but we've saved some money here in the front half for the express purpose of being able to invest it in the back half."

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) has raised the ire of activist investor Bill Ackman a few times over the years, to little effect. Target, which owns roughly 85% of the real estate under its stores, owns more than just discount locations. It's estimated that Target's real estate holdings alone are worth $30 billion. That's on top of the $50+ billion it makes every fiscal year in revenue. Does Target's share price reflect that fact?

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is looking at every possible way to increase sales and discount store market share this year. Part of that plan will soon be to sell fresh food and products in up to 100 of its normal merchandise stores to supplant sales at its merchandise/grocery SuperTarget locations that already exist.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) has indicated that it will slice 9% of its headquarters staff as the retailer continues to weather the economic downturn and uncertainty in 2009's performance. This week has seen companies from every industry cuts tens of thousands of jobs. In what is starting to infiltrate the headquarters of many companies, it's not just for store workers or front-line folks any longer.

Target also said it would cut back on new store openings this year in addition to closing down a distribution center for an unspecified time. At its headquarters in Minnesota, 600 positions will be let go and the company will cancel plans to hire for an additional 40 positions. In Arkansas -- just down the street from the headquarters of rival Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Target will close a distribution center and put another 500 people out of work.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) reported what many retail industry analysts were expecting regarding December sales (hint: they went down from the prior year).

The second-largest discount retailer in the U.S. indicated that its December same-store sales dipped down 4.1% in December, even though that level was better than expected. The previous expectation was for Target to see a 9.1% drop in same-store sales. In other words, the retailer did twice as good as expected.

Does this mean the languishing retail landscape is recovering? Not so fast -- a surge in the last two weeks of December was the reason Target gave for doing better than predicted in December. Most likely, gift-buying procrastinators saved Target from seeing a nearly double-digit same-store sales drop.

Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel indicated that the retailer dropped prices in December to gain market share. It still was not enough to stop the customer buying defections to competitor Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) which continued to see growth in December when just about all other retailers saw shrinkage.

Activist investor William Ackman wants Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) to have an IPO to raise roughly $5.1 billion to assist the retailer as it works to pay down debt and obtain cash for new store openings. This proposed IPO would be for Target's real estate holdings, which would be spun off into a separate entity. It would then lease the land back to the retailer for up to 75 years.

When Ackman originally suggested the REIT spinoff a month ago, Target indicated it had serious concerns about his plan and how it would create any value for shareholders. I'm not sure what Ackman is thinking, but there is one truism here: we can't create more land for anything. There is a finite supply of it. Spinning off Target's vast holdings into an inflation-protected trust that would lease land back, would create, well, something. Let's call it value.

As Target pledged to reduce capital spending by $1 billion in 2009 to help it cope with the economic nightmare that's underway, this spinoff would definitely be in the interest of shareholders. It's hard to think how this would not benefit them. Some folks think diverting attention away from recruiting every last shopper into Target stores to spend money would be foolish. At least Target execs are listening, though.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) bucked the "retailers in the dump" news this past weekend by opening up 45 new stores across the U.S., including its first two stores in the state of Alaska. The openings also included two newer prototype stores in Minnesota. As luck would have it, one of these store openings was located where I live. And it opened less than one-half mile away from an existing Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) Supercenter.

From conversations I've heard all summer, almost everyone looked forward to the new Target opening in my area. The feeling was that most of these folks wanted a competitor to Wal-Mart, even if it didn't mean lower prices. Perhaps they looked forward to the Target shopping experience instead of the Wal-Mart shopping experience?

The two Minnesota store openings included a new general merchandise prototype location as well as a new SuperTarget prototype location. Both include more space for food and electronics (two staple merchandising segments) and both were certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Whether Target's newer stores will market this fact to the eco-conscious American shopper is unknown. The new store designs will be unveiled at more than 100 new locations in 2009, according to the company.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) has started selling a Blu-ray disc player for what is probably the lowest retail price you can find one at: $229. I've said many times in the past that this new format will not catch on with consumers until retail prices routinely get to less than $200, so this new price from Target is nearing that mark. Of course, panicked U.S. consumers probably won't be buying any Blu-ray players the remainder of this year as they watch what wealth they did have evaporate in the markets.

The Target model is an Olevia brand player (yes, that's an off-brand), which marks a $70 reduction from a recent Sony Blu-ray player that is being sold alongside the Olevia player for $299. Still, unless there is some breakthrough difference that Blu-ray manufacturers and retailers can market correctly, most U.S. consumers will stay with their progressive-scan DVD players that sell for $75 or less and have a perfectly fine picture (although not true high-definition).

So, perhaps sometime in late 2009 -- roughly a year from now -- the market will see $99 Blu-ray players and regular consumers may finally feel the urge to buy one and start re-purchasing their movie libraries in yet another format. That is, until super-duper, high-fidelity Purple-ray players hit the market sometime in 2014 and the cycle repeats yet again. Perhaps by then, we'll all be out of this economic funk and won't be protecting our cash hoards, however little they may be by then.

When the going gets tough, the CEO gets dropped. At least, that's what happened at retailing giant Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) in 2007. Company CEO Bob Ulrich saw his salary and bonuses reduced by 42% last year as the discount retailer failed to meet sales expectations and saw its stock price decline.

Like many CEOs, Ulrich's compensation is tied to its stock price and to the company's financial performance. Although he received $1.66 million in pay and non-stock compensation of $2.89 million (down from $6.13 million), Ulrich's total compensation dropped 67% in 2007 to $12.2 million.

Sounds like quite a bit to many of us, yes? Target explained that some of Ulrich's stock awards for the year were actually made in previous years and expensed in 2007, which makes up for some of the amount. Target officials were pretty clear about saying, "Our financial results in 2007 fell well short of our goals . . . as a result, non-equity incentive payouts for executive officers were near the low end of the payout range, and long-term performance share award payouts were negatively impacted."

Still, more than $12 million is not a bad payday.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) will soon begin having its meat vendors label their products as having been treated with carbon monoxide. In general, treating fresh meat with carbon monoxide makes meat appear fresh to the shopper, much like treatment with sodium nitrite does. Both products, however, are really not something you want to ingest into your body. The only problem is that labeling laws don't really require this information to be highlighted on meat labels.

So, Target wants to be more truthful with its customers. Remember, it's Target's product you're buying -- not Hormel's or Cargill's. Even though those two companies are the main meat vendors, the last stop is Target's shelves. Target made a very good decision. Empowering customers with information is something that retailers better wake up to. Your competitor will if you won't.

The new labeling will read "Color is not an accurate indicator of freshness. Refer to use or freeze by date." Just like food coloring is used to spruce up pre-packaged and processed foods, the inclusion of carbon monoxide in fresh meats (well, not that fresh) is something many customers want to know about. Next up, we'll see if Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) responds to Target's initiative and requires the same labeling changes from its pre-packaged meat vendors.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is set to deploy two larger-store prototypes in 2008 that will apparently be bigger than current Target locations and green certified as the company promotes a more environmentally conscious shopping experience to its customers.

In terms of more greener stores, Target joins larger competitor Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), which recently held a company-wide meeting where 'being green' was the central theme of the show. One of the prototype locations will be a general merchandise store and one will be a SuperTarget location -- and both are scheduled to open in October. Both will feature added space for consumer electronics as well as grocery items.

If all goes well with the new Target prototypes, the discount retailer plans to deploy the prototype designs at more than 100 locations in 2009. Target rolls out prototype designs every four to five years to keep the consumer shopping experience fresh. There's a competitive edge: there are not too many (if any) national retailers I know of that change store designs on a large scale on such a frequent basis.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is again being sued, but this time it is not for disservice to the disabled. The second largest discount chain in the U.S. is under the gun from fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg for "closely mimicking" the designer's signature style in some of its women's dress product lines.

In something intellectual property attorneys will have a field day with, the retailer apparently used a design on one of its dresses that closely resembles a 'spotted frog' design owned by Furstenberg. The lawsuit, launched in New York, accused Target of using a "nearly identically copy" of the scale, pattern and colorways of Furstenberg's design, even down to the materials that are made to look like silk.

Although Target removed the offending products from its website late last week, the company is still selling the dresses in question in its stores, according to Furstenberg's complaint. It's doubtful that this lawsuit will have an effect on Target's long-term stock outlook, but it may have an effect on Furstenberg's PR efforts and consumer awareness.

When activist investor William Ackman comes to town and starts buying your shares, you can bet he'll be hounding the board for changes soon. That's the case with discount retailer Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), as Ackman now owns right under 10% of the retailer's shares. What does he have in store? Quite a few changes that should boost the retailer's stock price in the next three years and give Ackman a handsome return on his investment.

First up was Ackman's suggestion that Target sell off its credit card operations -- something that management said would be considered. Just under three weeks ago, Target officials cited "market conditions" as the reason a decision to spin its credit card business had been delayed. In other words, Target probably had not found a buyer for the debt portfolio due to consumer credit having been tightened like a noose in the last calendar quarter of 2007.

What else did Ackman have in mind? He believes the company's shares could be worth $120 each within 36 months, based on an investor letter he wrote on December 27. On tap was Target's need to complete its $10 billion stock buyback and start ramping up cash flows based on all the real estate the company holds -- which Ackman pegs at $42 billion in worth. That's roughly Target's entire market capitalization, so the question becomes one of how Target is going to make money outside of selling diapers, pretzels and spring apparel. Expect those questions to be answered on Target's next quarterly results conference call on February 26.