Deck the Halls shop to host open house in Chester

CHESTER -- Deck the Halls shop to host open house

Deck the Halls, a specialty Christmas shop in downtown Chester, will hold an open house from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Saturday at the store, 135 Gadsden St.

The shop sells various Christmas items, including ornaments, wreaths, lights, antiques, Fontanini nativity scenes and more.

Customers will receive a 10 percent discount on purchases during the open house.

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. For more information, call 803-377-4646.

October sales offer relief to merchants

Stores are heading into the period with slashed inventories, determined not to have the fire sales that characterized last Christmas. But shoppers are still facing tight credit and a weak job market and might wait for fat discounts or not buy at all. That game of chicken will determine the holiday winners and losers.

Sales at stores open at least a year rose 2.1 percent in October, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs tally, compared with a 4.2 percent drop in October 2008. The October results beat estimates for a 1 percent gain and followed a surprising 0.6 percent increase in September.

Banks borrow more from emergency Fed program

Banks borrowed slightly more from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program over the past week, while reducing their use of other credit programs designed to ease the financial crisis.

The Fed said commercial banks averaged $22.6 billion in daily borrowing over the week that ended Wednesday. That's up $32 million from the week ended Oct. 28, but is far less than the $110 billion they borrowed a year ago at the height of the financial crisis.

The increase, while slight, was the first since the week of Sept. 2.

DirecTV shows subscriber gains; rivals see loss

Satellite TV operator DirecTV was one of the few pay-TV companies to gain subscribers in the third quarter, though earnings stayed steady because of the higher costs it incurred attracting and serving those new customers.

DirecTV said Thursday that a marketing partnership with AT&T that began in February accounted for most of the increase in U.S. subscribers, but it likely retained subscribers and gained new ones because of a perennial favorite, the NFL Sunday Ticket package that airs out-of-market games to football fans.

DirecTV, which is controlled by media mogul John Malone's Liberty Media, has focused on attracting consumers who don't mind paying more for quality TV as long as they get football and other packages they want.

CVS Caremark profit up, but big contracts lost

CVS Caremark disclosed more multibillion dollar contract losses in its pharmacy benefits management business and said the head of the unit will depart.

CEO Tom Ryan said CVS, which runs the nation's second-biggest drugstore chain, won't reach its goals in 2010 because of the sharp reversal of fortunes at the Caremark unit, which administers drug benefits for employers. CVS shares plunged 20 percent and took their biggest one-day loss in eight years.

In total, the company lost about $2 billion in 2010 revenue in the last three months. It now believes Caremark has lost $4.8 billion in contracts for next year.