Finding local resources

Many cities have a daily, weekly or monthly newspaper that tracks business and retail trends within their respective communities.

I recommend: American City Business Journals has online and print editions covering local business issues in 41 cities.

Getting a national perspective

Retailing in general and its many niches get regular coverage from trade magazines.

I recommend: Chain Store Age and its sister publication Retailing Today are good sources for national retail trends and the strategies of the major players and so is Stores, the magazine of the National Retail Federation. Convenience Store News and Women's Wear Daily cover the convenience and clothing markets. Topix.net collects retail news from all over the Net. Forbes tracks commerce and retail issues from a more national and global perspective and provides related stock-exchange information.

Pulling down reports and research data

Research firms watch consumers' retail behavior closely.

I recommend: Plunkett Research Ltd. provides trend analysis, retail statistics and other useful information, but you'll have to pay a subscription fee to access it. MarketResearch.com has some information about the retail industry's spending on online advertising and links to other kinds of retail reports.